LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



COPYRIGHT OFFICE. 



No registration of title of this book 
as a preliminary to copyright protec- 
tion has been found. Jlffif ^/ v ft8fer£> 



Forwarded to Order Division 



(Date) 



(Apr. 5, 1901—5,000.) 




Class. 

Book x/j& 

Copyright N° 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



CHILDREN'S Day 



Addresses to Children and Parents on 
Familiar Subjects of Life and Duty 



BY 



A 



JAMES GARDINER VOSE, D. D. 

Pastor of the Beneficent Church, Providence, R. I. 




BOSTON 

Gbe pilgrim press 

CHICAGO 



ONE COPY RECEIVED 



TWO^fflg^gfeWED 



.Vc 



Copyright, 1897 
BY JAMES GARDINER VOSE, D. D. 



All Rights Reserved 



TO THE CHILDREN 

OF THE 

BENEFICENT CHURCH 

AND THEIR PARENTS, MANY OF 

WHOM WERE CHILDREN WHEN HE FIRST KNEW THEM, 

THESE ADPRESSES 

ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 

BY THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE 



To speak to children when their parents 
and other friends are present, involves, of 
necessity, some mingling of discourse to both 
old and young. While all these addresses 
were given on Children's Day, some, it will 
be seen, are largely directed to parents. This 
is particularly true of the seventh and tenth in 
the series. In fact, the sympathy of both has 
been sought, rather than an attempt made to 
interest or instruct them separately. It is a 
saying of Marcus Aurelius that, "What is 
good for the bee is good for the hive," and if 
there is anything here to help children it can- 
not be wholly without interest to their elders. 

It may be mentioned as a reason for pub- 
lishing these addresses, that they have met at 
times the kindly approval of members of the 
Maternal Association, — a society which has a 
high place in the author's regard ; and it is 
his earnest hope that the book may occa- 
sionally form a starting point for discussions 
of practical value, and be a help to their 

meetings. 

j. g. v. 



CONTENTS 



I. THE VALUE OF RESTRAINTS 

II. BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 

III. LITTLE THINGS 

IV. RUTH AND ORPAH 
V. CURIOSITY . 

VI. MAKING COLLECTIONS . 

VII. THE PIETY OF A CHILD 

VIII. CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 

IX-. KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 

X. PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 



24 


40 


55 


72 


90 


106 


• 125 


• i45 


164 s/' 



The Value of Restraints 

Boys and girls are always looking forward, 
and if they can only find out what will be 
good for them when they grow up, what will 
help them to the best manhood and woman- 
hood, that is the thing that they ought to wish 
now. 

The restraints of early life are likely to 
make the best men and women. I think I 
can explain very easily what these restraints 
are. 

First of all, the restraints of home. We are 
not born without parents to care for us, like 
some of the lower forms of existence, — insects 
that spring at once into full life and self-sup- 
port, or butterflies that burst their chrysalis 
and know no teaching or guidance from others. 
The little child is born into a home, which, 
while it protects, also restrains. We cannot 
have the one without the other. The house has 
its door and its blinds, its locks and its bolts. 
When we fasten it up for the night, there is 
not only a desire for security but a pleasurable 



IO THE VALUE OF RESTRAINTS 

feeling of snugness and private affection that 
shuts us in from all the world. 

Some of us remember very well what it is 
to be homesick. When sent away to school, or 
even to visit among friends, a strange feeling 
has come over us that is unlike almost any- 
thing else, a sort of faintness at the heart and 
heavy weight on us, that make it seem almost 
impossible for us to live away from home. 
It is a feeling common in other nations beside 
our own. The Germans call it "heimweh" 
and it is sometimes so keen a pang among the 
Swiss that people have been known to die 
from it. 

The attachments of home would not amount 
to much without the restraints. The child 
learns to love his home, because he is obliged 
to stay in it so much of the time. It is his 
shelter from the storm, his resting-place by 
night; it is there he sits at the table, and by 
the evening lamp ; it is there he has his early 
plays, and the little store of toys and books 
that he calls his own. In a true home he can- 
not go out and in entirely at his own pleasure, 
but must obey the rules of the house for rising 
and going to bed, for eating and coming home 
for the night. 



THE VALUE OF RESTRAINTS II 

The little fellow beginning to walk is pro- 
tected against certain dangers. He finds a 
gate at the head of the stairs which he doesn't 
like at first, but if it happens to be left open 
by accident and he tumbles down the stairs to 
the bottom, the use of a gate begins to get 
into his head. 

So it is with other restraints that are more 
important. He must be bathed at proper 
times and have clean hands at the table; he 
must have his hair combed, though it hurts 
sometimes, and the girls find the tangles grow 
while they are asleep. There are a good 
many restraints from the time when a little 
child is forbidden to touch this and that, to 
the time when rules are laid down as to books 
and company and amusements. The home 
belongs to the family, and each must seek 
the happiness of all. There is no place so 
precious if this is done, and no place more 
miserable if it is lawless. If there is no obe- 
dience, or kind words, or forgiveness, or 
prayer for one another's welfare, home is not 
home. 

The parents find some restraints for them- 
selves. They have to give up a good many 
things for the common welfare. The mother 



12 THE VALUE OF RESTRAINTS 

often gives up her sleep, and the father, if he 
is a gentleman and a Christian, takes his 
share of trouble to make home orderly and 
happy. It isn't all restraint for the little 
child, but older members of the family have 
to consult the general good and restrain both 
their words and their wishes to benefit and 
help others. But if the parents were trained 
in a good home themselves, they know the 
worth of these restraints. They know that 
home is not a place where each one does what 
he has a mind to do, but where each has a 
mind to do what is sweetest and pleasantest 
for all the rest. The time to learn this lesson 
is very early. "It is good for a man that he 
bear the yoke in his youth." 

From the restraints of infancy we pass to 
the restraints of school. The school must 
have its hours, lessons, laws. The first thing 
for a good teacher must be to keep order. 
He may know all the words in the speller 
and all the rivers in China, and have them all 
at his tongue's end, but if he cannot govern he 
is a failure. He does not need to whip, as he 
thought he did when I went to school, but he 
must rule with the eye and the voice, and with 
that power of self-control and determination 



THE VALUE OE RESTRAINTS 1 3 

which expects obedience and gets it. And 
the chief benefit that comes to the pupil is in 
obeying the rules. If he learns to pay atten- 
tion, to answer promptly, to tell what he 
knows, to follow the rules of arithmetic 
exactly, he is growing wiser. He is getting 
discipline which is better than mere knowl- 
edge. There is no use to stay in a school if 
he cannot get that. 

The other day I visited a "Discipline 
School." Perhaps you do not know what that 
is. It is a school for boys who will not behave 
in the regular schools ; boys that play truant 
or refuse to get their lessons, or are unman- 
ageable. Such boys are taken out and put 
into a school by themselves. There were 
about twenty-five in this school. I should not 
have known that they were any different from 
other boys except that they sat well apart from 
each other, and there were fewer of them. 
They had two teachers. The principal, with 
whom I talked, was a most intelligent and 
admirable woman. Evidently, the superin- 
tendent had given one of the best teachers in 
town to these boys. She had had experience 
in some of the highest rooms. She spoke to 
these boys as pleasantly and politely as if they 



14 THE VALUE OF RESTRAINTS 

had been faultless, and yet she controlled 
them by a moral force that seemed resistless. 
I said, "Do you see any hopeful signs in any 
of these boys? " "Indeed I do," said she, 
"in all of them. They are doing better all 
the time, and some have already gone back 
to the regular schools because of their thor- 
oughly good behavior." It was a lesson to 
me of intense interest, and one of the best 
marks of progress in our system of education, 
that the city is trying to make good boys out 
of bad boys. I believe in that. I believe 
there is hope for everybody. The child that 
learns discipline at school, learns the best 
thing of all. For that reason many of our 
schools teach military drill, or at least march- 
ing and bodily exercise in some form, that 
body and mind may work together to the 
harmony of music, and thus be soothed and 
strengthened. The child who has learned 
these restraints, the measure of rhythm, of 
order, of exactness, has learned a great thing. 
The highest restraints of all are those of 
religion. Conscience begins to work very 
early. You can see in the eye of a very little 
fellow that he knows when he is doing wrong, 
and that he does not feel exactly satisfied about 



THE VALUE OE RESTRAINTS 1 5 

it. While love is the highest motive, it comes 
into conflict with will and caprice. Some- 
times the girl* objects to saying her prayers, 
or to kneeling down, or folding her hands. 
While I fully believe what our Saviour says 
of little children, that "of such is the king- 
dom of heaven," some of them have a queer 
way of showing it. They must be taught to 
obey God as well as love him, and that love 
is obedience. 

The Sabbath is a restraint to children, and 
they cannot receive its full benefit if this be 
left out. And here of course parents must 
keep the Sabbath, if the child is to keep it. 
There must be some restraint on work and 
play, and wild and foolish behavior. If the 
Sabbath at home is quiet, orderly, prepared 
for beforehand with suitable employments and 
worship, the child will learn to enjoy it. 
What do we mean by keeping Sunday? 
Surely not to make it dull and dreary ; but 
we cannot keep Sunday unless we keep 
it by some restraints for the good of others, 
and for what will best refresh both body and 
soul. 

Children may be Christians at any age, but 
they must begin by obeying God. Even 



1 6 THE VALUE OE RESTRAINTS 

prayer and reading the Bible are not to be left 
at haphazard. How do you expect ever to 
love the Bible? When we begin to read, the 
words always seem hard to us. There are 
some names now that are real jaw-breakers to 
us. There is a verse in the Bible that has all 
the letters in the alphabet — or all but one. I 
wonder if you know where it is. I believe it 
is in Ezra. There are hard words in the 
Bible, and things hard to understand, but it 
isn't a very large book, and two or three 
minutes a day given to it would make you 
very familiar with it. But even that is a 
restraint. Some of you think two minutes 
too much, and put it off till Sunday, and then 
you forget it. 

Sometimes I ask a Sunday-school class, — 
" Have you read over the lesson? " " No ! " 
Not even that. No one ever learned to love 
the Bible in that way. No one ever learned 
to play on the flute or the violin who did n't 
practise, and practice is a restraint. You 
know it very well. It is a restraint to pray. 
Sometimes you are too tired, and sometimes 
you forget it and you think you will pray 
when you have more time, and you are afraid 
somebody w T i!l see you. Never mind ; Christ 



THE VALUE OF RESTRAINTS 1 7 

has told us to pray, and we can't get along 
without prayer, and after a while we shall 
not be willing to get along without it. Job 
said, "I have esteemed the words of his 
mouth more than my necessary food," and 
the true Christian feels that he cannot live 
without reading the Bible and prayer every 
day. Many Christian duties are restraints. 
They restrain our words and our actions. 
Happy the child who accepts them early ! 

Now I have named three kinds of re- 
straints : Restraints of home, of school, and 
of religion. How do these restraints benefit 
us? 

They help us by saving us from evils we 
never should know the meaning of. The life 
of a child depends on the care of others. 
Food and clothing, protection from the 
changes of weather, watching in illness 
through all the diseases that we have to go 
through, from the time the babies' teeth 
begin to come till we are grown up and have 
some idea of taking care of ourselves, — all 
these things require laws. The child must 
submit to them, else it will be bad for him 
in after years. 

Another benefit is that by restraint we get 



1 8 THE VALUE OF RESTRAINTS 

command of our own powers. "It is good 
for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth." 
You know what a yoke is for. It is to enable 
the ox to draw. The great awkward animal 
could be of no service without a yoke to help 
him apply his power. The same thing is true 
of a harness. The horse must be harnessed 
in some way, and the harness must be strong 
and well fitted. Sometimes it is too heavy, or 
it chafes and galls. That is cruel. So a 
yoke may be too heavy for the child. Some 
children have to work too long hours in the 
mill. The yoke is too heavy for them. We 
ought to pity them, and try to help them by 
good laws and in other ways. 

But we all need some sort of a harness. 
When a man does faithful work in his busi- 
ness, we say he is in the harness. If he is 
regular, and obeys the rules and requirements 
of his trade, we say, "He works well in har- 
ness ;" otherwise, "He is good for nothing. 
He kicks out of the traces." Every useful 
man must know how to work in harness. The 
armor of a knight used to be called the har- 
ness. You will find the word so used in the 
Bible. The Bible is the best book for the 
study of language. He who wants to learn 



THE VALUE OF RESTRAINTS 1 9 

good English, let him study the Bible. We 
all need to know how to work in harness. 

Restraints are good for us, because they 
help us to go faster and to rise higher. Every 
child wants to run fast. We want to improve 
in everything good. Now, that seems a 
strange thing to say, that we can get ahead 
faster by restraint, but it is true. How does 
the engine run forty or sixty miles an hour? 
By keeping on the track. Suppose the loco- 
motive were to say: "This is pretty hard, to 
make such a great engine as I am, weighing 
more than twenty elephants, run always on a 
narrow track, four feet wide. Why can't I 
have my liberty?" But the track is as impor- 
tant as the engine. There was a track laid a 
great many years ago, in the town of Milton, 
Massachusetts, where my father was born. 
That was the first track laid in America, and 
it was laid before locomotives were used. 
The track was laid to draw granite pillars for 
the custom house in Boston, by horse power. 
And afterward locomotives were made to fit 
the track. A locomotive without a track 
could not run. 

Boys and girls, don't get off the track. 
Jesus calls it the narrow way. Keep to the 



20 THE VALUE OF RESTRAINTS 

narrow way, if you want to run fast and draw 
a good load. Keep to the narrow way of 
truth and honesty and pure thoughts and love 
to God. Then you will make progress. 
The engine would never get anywhere if it 
did not keep on the track. 

And I said we could rise higher. We 
want to get more knowledge, more virtue, 
more character, more usefulness. You can- 
not do it without restraint. You cannot learn 
without toil. You cannot do anything well 
without patience. You must submit to God 
and your own conscience, and be taught by 
wiser people. The foolish boy thinks he 
knows it all. The girl wants to do as she has 
a mind to. It is hard to be governed by 
others and follow where they lead. Yet no 
one grows up into a happy life but thanks 
God for the restraints of a good father and 
mother. The little fellow does not want to be 
tied down by this rule and that. But if he 
refuses to obey, and obstinately follows his 
own will, he will surely come to grief. 

Did you ever hear the fable of the kite? It 
is in poetry and I think you will like it. 






THE VALUE OF RESTRAINTS 21 

" Once on a time a paper kite 
Was mounted to a wondrous height, 
Where, giddy with its elevation, 
It thus expressed self-admiration : 
' See, how yon crowds of gazing people 
Admire my flight above the steeple ! 
How would they wonder if they knew 
All that a kite like me can do ! 
Were I but free, I 'd take a flight 
And pierce the clouds beyond my sight. 
But ah ! like a poor prisoner bound, 
My string confines me near the ground. 
I 'd brave the eagle's towering wing, 
Might I but fly without a string.' 
It tugged and pulled, while thus it spoke, 
To break the string, — at last it broke. 
Deprived at once of all its stay, 
In vain it tried to soar away ; 
Unable its own weight to bear, 
It fluttered downward in the air ; 
Unable its own course to guide, 
The winds soon plunged it in the tide. 
' Ah ! foolish kite, thou hadst no wing; 
How couldst thou fly without a string ? ' " 

Think of it, boys and girls, when tempted 
to say, "I don't wish to be tied up to school 
or home or rules of work or study." Let us 
all think of it when we get weary of just 



22 THE VALUE OF RESTRAINTS 

restraints, weary of the laws of God and con- 
science. 

Only one thing more. Be willing ta bear 
the yoke while you are young, and you will 
know how to govern yourselves when you are 
older. This is the way to gain true freedom. 
Our Lord Jesus tells us much about liberty. 
He has taught freedom to the world. But we 
are told that he learned obedience by the 
things that he suffered. He lived a quiet, 
industrious life with his parents till he was old 
enough to enter on his great work. This 
is the true beginning of life. Jesus- says, 
44 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me." 
He means the same yoke that he had to bear. 

I am very glad that so many young people 
in this city have begun to serve Christ. The 
only way is to submit to him, and that means 
to yield to the restraints of home and school 
and duty of every sort. Give up your pride 
and your own will. Do not say like the prod- 
igal, "I want to be my own master." You 
know where that led to. The only way to be 
your own master is to obey Christ and yield 
to every just law. 

Never be ashamed to do right. Don't 
have any false courage. Don't let fool- 



THE VALUE OF RESTRAINTS 23 

ish and wicked people dare you to do 
wrong, to get into bad habits, to swear, to 
break the Sabbath. Let them say if they 
wish to, " You are tied by a string." Remem- 
ber the kite. Always be bound to what is 
right and true and you will rise to lofty things. 
Christ teaches us how to govern ourselves. 
Our young people are learning this in the 
Christian Endeavor society. They see that 
the greatest happiness comes from rules and 
laws and regularity. You are pledged to 
nothing except what your conscience requires, 
what will please God and help one another. 
These are the things that will give you 
strength and make your lives worth some- 
thing and fit you to rise at length with Christ 
and with all loving hearts who have been a 
blessing in the world, to a crown of glory. 



Building Block Houses 

We hear a great deal in the Bible of build- 
ing towers. Indeed, one of the first things 
that ever was built was a tower, the tower of 
Babel. Proud men said, " Let us build a 
tower that shall reach up to heaven." But 
they had not counted the cost. They could 
not do it, and the whole thing came to grief. 

Children wish to build a tower that shall 
reach very high. And they can do it, too, 
with God's help ; and I shall try to show you 
how. If you look in your Bible, you will find 
a great many places where towers are spoken 
of. Men built towers to protect them in war. 
They built them to overlook vineyards, so 
that they could see whether harm came to 
them, and at night the workmen lodged in 
them. They built towers for watchmen to 
see over the country afar, and to wave sig- 
nals from the top. They had no telegraph in 
those days, so that this was all they could do. 

But towers have been used in later times 

for signals. Have n't you heard of the Old 

24 



BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 25 

North Church in Boston, where they waved 
the lanterns the night that Paul Revere rode 
out to Concord ? That tower was worth 
remembering, and a great many towers have 
been. 

I am going to tell you of a tower that you 
all can build that shall reach up to heaven. 
You are all builders of character. A good 
character will last forever, and reach up to 
heaven. A bad one will go to ruin. 

Now, what is character? It is what you 
are; whether you can be trusted; whether 
you are bound to do right, even when it is 
unpleasant. The youngest child has some 
idea of what it is to be good and follow his 
conscience. Well, we call that character. 
Nobody knows just what it is till he begins to 
build it. What will you build it with? Chil- 
dren love to build houses with blocks. You 
learn a great deal in that way. We want 
some good, strong blocks at the bottom, some 
that will stand firmly. That is true also of 
character. It needs good, strong blocks at the 
foundation. Listen, and I will tell you what 
they are. 

The first is truth. It seems easy to tell the 

truth, and yet it is often difficult* It is one of 
3 



26 BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 

the clearest signs of our fallen nature that we 
so often depart from the truth. David says 
of some people that they never tell the truth. 
"They go astray as soon as they be born, 
speaking lies." I have heard of some chil- 
dren who tell wrong stories, first in play, then 
perhaps to conceal a fault, then to make other 
people admire them. It is very natural to 
exaggerate, that is, to say a thing is larger 
than it is ; to pretend to know more than we 
do. When we do wrong, it is very easy to 
deny or to make it out something different, or 
to say we did not know it was wrong. And 
when children begin in this way, they get 
into a habit of falsehood. They do not call 
it falsehood, but they know it is not quite 
true. 

And this habit grows on them. We are all 
made up of habits. It is sometimes said that 
" Man is a bundle of habits." They are like 
the muscles that are all over our bodies, and 
they grow as the child grows, and become 
strong as he exercises them, until he becomes 
a man. Now the habit of truth is most pre- 
cious. The little child may be taught it very 
early. It is not merely a moral virtue; it is 
a Christian grace. Jesus says, " I am the 



BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 27 

. . . truth." If you want to be a Christian, 
you must own the truth. 

You have heard of the word repentance. 
You know the Bible commands us to repent. 
Now, what is it to repent? Why, it is just to 
own our faults and be sorry for them. If 
you are truly sorry when you have done 
wrong, you will wish to own it. It is a great 
struggle sometimes for a little child to own 
that he has done wrong. But he can never 
feel happy until he has got the burden ofF his 
conscience. 

Parents ought to be very careful about this. 
We cannot^ deceive God, and we cannot long 
deceive one another. "Be sure your sin will 
find you out." If a child is trying to conceal 
something, it makes him uneasy. You can 
see it in his eye and in his every motion. He 
is not quite at peace with himself. Now if 
you would have a good, strong character, if 
you would build a tower that will reach up to 
heaven, begin with truth. 

For another block let us have duty. Duty 
for a little child is obedience. That is pretty 
much the whole of it. And when we grow 
up, duty is obedience to God. " Fear God, 
and keep his commandments ; for this is the 



28 BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 

whole duty of man." Now a great many 
children spoil their obedience by not being 
prompt. They say, " Yes, I am coming," but 
they do not come. They are sure they are 
going to obey, but they put it off. And men 
spoil their obedience to God in just the same 
way. They trade on promises. They are 
always meaning to do better. They deceive 
themselves by thinking duty will be so easy 
to-morrow, and will not do it to-day. Do 
things in time. There will be something 
else to do to-morrow. If we keep putting 
off, we shall get hurried and do everything 
wrong. 

Then another rule is to do the unpleasant 
things first. There are some things hard to 
do, some hard lessons, or work of some kind. 
Now foolish boys say, "I have a nice book 
to read," or, "I want to go out and play; 
by and by I will study my lesson, or 
attend to work." But when they have 
been reading the story-book, it is a great 
deal harder to work afterwards. Do the 
unpleasant duty first, then with an approv- 
ing conscience you take your reward. Do 
not be in too much of a hurry to get 
through your task, but finish it up fully 



BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 29 

and fairly, and then you will feel a joy in 
play that you never had before. 

The greatest joy in the world is the 
sense of work well done. The very joy of 
heaven is when Christ says to us, " Well 
done, good and faithful servant: .... 
enter thou into the joy of thy lord." You 
cannot enter into joy unless your work is 
well done. Make this rule, then, always to 
do the unpleasant thing first. Do not try 
to shirk your task or study, but finish it up 
well. 

Duty is a sacred thing, and there is never 
any excuse for not doing it. I do not like 
the word "excuse." I think it often has a 
wrong meaning. I remember when I was 
very young hearing a friend say, " I can- 
not always do what I wish to do, but I 
can always do what it is my duty to do." 
There is never any excuse for not doing 
our duty. 

The Bible never favors excuses. It tells 
us that those who sin are without excuse. 
There is no excuse for sin. There cannot 
be. God never excuses anybody. He for- 
gives the sinner who owns the truth and 
believes in him. Now, if we have done 



30 BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 

wrong, the only thing we can do is to 
repent and ask forgiveness through Christ. 
But if we have done right, we need no 
excuse. Duty needs no excuse, and sin 
has none. If it is my duty to be in one 
place, then I cannot be in another. Let us 
do our duty with all our might, and when 
we fail, let us own up, and be sorry for it, 
and ask pardon. Then we shall be right 
with God, and right with every one else. 

But to do these things we want another 
block. Truth and duty are good blocks to 
build with. Let us have another. It is 
courage. It takes courage to do our duty 
and courage to tell the truth. Some one 
has said that we never do anything wrong 
except by being afraid. At any rate, fear 
mingles with sin. Peter was afraid in the 
judgment-hall to tell the truth about Christ. 
Adam was afraid in the garden, and "went 
and hid himself. We ought never to be 
afraid of anything except sin. When we 
are told to fear God, it means that we 
should fear to offend him. 

" Fear Him, ye saints, and ye shall then 
Have nothing else to fear." 



BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 3 I 

It is a great sin to frighten children. 
Parents are sometimes careless in this 
respect, and sometimes they leave their 
children to the care of those who terrify or 
threaten them, and those early impressions 
are never wiped out. Schiller says that 
" Fear is occasioned by that which is un- 
known." Some people cannot help being 
alarmed by thunder, while others delight in 
it. We cannot repress all our natural feel- 
ings. But we can remember that God is 
with us. He will take care of us if we do 
our duty. We are never safe without God. 
That is the best courage, to wish to be on 
the side of God and to serve him. 

People are sometimes more afraid of a 
laugh than they would be of a blow. 
They are afraid to stand up and own the 
truth. They are ashamed to own their 
best feelings. Boys are afraid sometimes 
to be seen reading the Bible, or kneeling 
down in prayer. If you want to build 
a strong character, you must never be 
ashamed to do anything that is right. 
Some one told Martin Luther that if he 
stood up for the truth he would lose his 



32 BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 

head, but he answered that he would do it 
if he had five hundred heads to lose. 

But it is not men only who are brave. I 
think women are as brave as men. Men 
are not always braver because they are 
larger and taller. There was Joan of Arc, 
who saved the armies of France, and won 
the crown for the young king. She was 
braver than any Frenchman of her time. 
And the English put her to death, because 
she would not tell a lie. " I would rather 
die," she said, "than to sin against the will 
of God." I tell you, women are as brave 
and often braver than men. You have 
heard of Ida Lewis, who kept the light- 
house at Newport, and how she saved the 
lives of sailors by rowing out in a terrible 
storm. It's a warm heart that makes peo- 
ple brave. You have heard the story of 
William Tell, and how the tyrant made him 
shoot at an apple placed on his son's head. 
But I always thought the boy was braver 
than his father, to stand still and never 
flinch. And I will tell you what made him 
brave. Because he loved his father and 
trusted him with all his heart. A good 



BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 33 

heart is a brave heart, mind that. As 
Tennyson makes Sir Galahad say, — 

li My strength is like the strength of ten 
Because my heart is pure." 

The bravest thing of all is to dare to do 
right. Dare to be laughed at and go right 
on in your duty, no matter what others 
think. 

I do not think enough has been said 
about our Lord's courage. He never seem- 
ed to be afraid of anything. When he 
was a mere boy of twelve and was ques- 
tioned by the learned men in the temple, 
he stood right up and told what he 
knew like a man. Speak out and tell the 
truth. Try your best everywhere, in 
school, and anywhere else. That's the 
way to be like Christ. When he knew 
the rulers were plotting against him, he 
was not afraid, but went right up to the 
temple, and drove out the money-changers 
and the cheats. He could not have done it 
by force alone, but because they knew that 
he was right and they were wrong. 

When the soldiers came to take Jesus in 
the garden, he just looked at them, and 



34 BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 

they fell backward. Always remember his 
courage. Dare to be a friend of Christ. 
The time will come when you will see 
people who do not care for Christ, and 
who will abuse his name, and laugh at 
you for obeying him. Be brave, as he 
was brave. Never be afraid to do right. 
Be a friend to Jesus now when he wants 
a friend. "A friend in need is a friend 
indeed." Jesus will stay by you forever, if 
you have courage to be his true friend. 

Now we have three blocks, truth, dut}', 
courage. There is one thing more and 
that is faith. But it must be a true faith. 
What is the use of saying, " I believe " if 
you don't mean it ? You know children 
sometimes say "make believe." "Let's 
make believe that I 'm a horse or that 
I 'm a steam engine." Well, that is all 
very w T ell for a play, but faith is differ- 
ent from s * make believe." A great many 
people say, "I believe in God," when 
they only make believe. Now we must be 
true and we must dare to do right, then 
our faith will amount to something. 

Now, w r hat must you believe in ? You 
must believe in God, in Christ who died for 



BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 35 

you, in the Bible. You must believe in 
prayer. All children pray, but do you all 
believe in prayer ? I thank God that I 
learned to believe in prayer. When I was 
a little boy, I was shut up in the school- 
room and the door was locked. I had 
done something wrong, and the teacher left 
me alone, and locked me in. It began 
to get dark, and I longed to have him 
come back. I was only six or seven years 
old, but I remember just the corner of the 
room where I stood, although it is three 
thousand miles away. Well, I began to 
be in distress and at last I thought I 
would pray, and I had not got the words out 
of my mouth before the key went into that 
door as if it was only waiting for me to pray. 
I have thought of that almost every day 
since, and when I want anything, I pray 
for it. God does not always send it as 
quickly as that. But I 'm sure that he 
sends it quickly enough. When the right 
time comes, he is always ready. 

The best things to believe in are the 
unseen. Some people who think they 
know a great deal, say, " I will not 
believe unless I can see. Seeing is believ- 



36 BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 

ing." A Hindoo once said, " I don't 
believe in God for I can't see him, or 
hear him, or taste him." But a friend 
said to him, "Did you ever have a pain in 
your head?" "Yes." "Could you see 
it ? " " No." » Could you hear it ? " 
"No." "Could you taste it?" "No." 
" Why, then, do you believe there is any 
such thing as pain ?" "Because I can 
feel it." Just so I feel in my heart there is 
a God. My conscience tells me when I do 
wrong. That is faith. We cannot see 
love or virtue. We cannot see the love 
of our mother, or hear it, or taste it, 
but we feel it in our souls. That is faith, 
and if you want to make the faith good 
for anything, you must be true and duti- 
ful and brave. 

Put all these blocks together, truth and 
duty, courage and faith. They will" make 
a strong foundation. Build them on the 
rock Jesus Christ, and then build up the 
tower. Keep on building as long as you 
live, and it will reach up to heaven. 

Some of our dear, precious children who 
were with us a year ago have already built 
up to heaven. We don't say much about 



BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 37 

them to-day, but we think about them. 
Some of us scarcely think of anything else. 
God called them very suddenly. You know 
I said he knows the right time, and it is 
sweet for us to remember their truth and 
obedience. 

It is a blessed thing to begin right. It is 
everything to begin right. For unless you 
begin right, the tower will all have to be 
pulled down. You know if you don't put 
in the right blocks or get them set even, 
down they come. Begin right, and remem- 
ber the four blocks, truth, duty, courage, 
faith. 

But you are ready to ask, " Why don't 
you say something about love?" Love 
isn't exactly a block, because it is needed 
everywhere. It holds the stones together. 
You know when men build, they have mor- 
tar or cement to put between the stones. 
You have seen them mix it a great many 
times. Now love is like that mortar. It 
holds all the rest together, little stones and 
big stones, top or bottom ; they all want 
love to keep them together. You cannot 
build a happy home without love. The fin- 
est house in town is empty without love. 



38 BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 

And love can get into the smallest cottage 
or room. It doesn't need any space, be- 
cause it comes in everywhere. So Christ 
teaches us to love those about us, and to 
do them good always. We do not build 
our house just for ourselves, but to make 
others happy and to honor God. 

And now in conclusion, I want you to 
remember what Christ says, — that when a 
man is going to build a tower he must sit 
down and think about it. Can he do it? 
Can he carry it through? It will cost a 
good deal, — labor and time and self-denial. 
Will you build your character for Christ? 
He will help you if you trust him, and try 
with all your might. But you must try 
hard. If you meet difficulties, you must 
hold on. Do not turn back when you have 
chosen the right way. 

Children must be thoughtful. If you are 
going to build a good character, you must 
sit down and count the cost. It will cost a 
good deal. You will have to struggle and 
toil and deny yourself. It takes a long time 
to build a tower or a house. But it takes 
longer to build character. Think about it. 
I love to see a child thoughtful. Some- 



BUILDING BLOCK HOUSES 39 

times he will sit or stand perfectly still for 
a little while, and will almost forget where 
he is, because he is thinking about some- 
thing. Think about Christ, and what kind 
of a character you will build for him. Ask 
him to help you day by day. Paul calls 
believers temples of God. They are more 
precious than Solomon's temple. You have 
heard about the pyramids and how they 
rose out of the desert, stone by stone. Hun- 
dreds or thousands of men worked on them, 
and there they have stood for ages. 

But you can build something that will last 
longer. Build a character for Christ. Think 
what he wants and what will please him. 
Don't wait till you grow up. Little hands 
can build, and they do build, whether they 
think of it or not. But if they are careless, 
and do not build for Christ, the whole thing 
w r ill fall to pieces like some of your block 
houses that were not started right. 

God bless you, dear children, and help 
you to build for Christ ; and let this Chil- 
dren's Day, so bright and fair, be ^remem- 
bered as helping you on in the service of 
God. 



Little Things 



I read of some American ladies who were 
presented last week to the Princess of 
Wales; that is, they were permitted to go 
and make a courtesy to her, and they were 
very particular about their dress, and just 
how they should enter into the presence and 
how they should withdraw. All that doesn't 
seem of much consequence to us; but still, 
if they were permitted to go to court at all, 
they must behave properly. It would have 
been an insult to do otherwise. How much 
more should we all be careful in our beha- 
vior before the great God. Most of us care 
very little for princesses, or czars, or sul- 
tans. We know they are not all good peo- 
ple, nor worthy of respect. But our God is 
full of love. He has given us his own Son 
to die for us: and surely, if there is any 
little way in which we can show our grati- 
tude, we ought to do it. And we can all 
come near to him. In fact, we are in his 

presence at all times. He knows our beha- 

40 



LITTLE THINGS 4 1 

vior, and sees the little things as well as 
the great, and therefore we ought to be 
careful to please him. The songs of chil- 
dren pleased Jesus when he was on earth. 
Their looks attracted him, so that he put 
aside other people in order that he might 
show attention to them. "Though the 
Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the 
lowly," and " He that is faithful in a very 
little is faithful also in much." 

We ought to serve God in little things, 
because his law is all one. We are not to 
pick and choose between the commandments 
of God and say we will obey in some things 
because that pleases us, and in others we 
will do as we like. If we keep the sixth 
commandment that does not excuse us for 
breaking the third. Because we do not 
steal, that does not make it any better for us 
to abuse the Sabbath. Indeed, to abuse the 
Sabbath and make it all fun and games, in- 
stead of going to church and Sunday-school, 
would be stealing God's time. For these 
commandments are all one. God gave them 
all, and he didn't say, "You can keep which 
you like and leave the rest," but they all are 
precious in his sight. They were all made 



4 2 LITTLE THINGS 

for our good and for God's glory. Every- 
thing that God says is important, and all 
that he asks of us is right. We are very 
apt to deceive ourselves by thinking that a 
little disobedience will do no harm. The 
child says, " I want to do just this little 
thing. It will only take a minute, or I will 
only do it this once ; it will not do any 
harm. I don't see why I need be so par- 
ticular." But if God is to be obeyed at all, 
he wants our whole heart. And is it not 
true that it is wilful and obstinate in us to 
refuse to do a thing which we call little 
and to say, " I will have my own way," — 
as much as to tell God that our way is best, 
and that we know as well as he does ; or 
else that he is too hard with us and wants 
to make us unhappy? 

You all have been at school or expect to 
go some time. Now, what is the most im- 
portant thing in a school? It is discipline. 
Do you know what the word means? It is 
that the teacher should keep order and be 
obeyed. That is the first quality of a 
teacher — to be able to keep order. Now, 
suppose there was a boy in the school who 
took a notion that he would n't pronounce 



LITTLE THINGS 43 

the syllables in spelling, or that he wouldn't 
repeat a word when he was told to, and the 
teacher should say to him, "John, repeat 
that word," and he should refuse to do it. 
Do you think he would be allowed to stay 
in that school very long, if he didn't mind? 
Perhaps he would say: "Teacher, don't 
I get my lessons well? Am I not always 
present and never tardy?" "Yes, John; I 
used to think you were my best scholar. 
But then vou must mind. The whole school 
are looking at us to see who rules. 
Either you or I will have to give up." 
Now, dear children, this partly explains our 
relation to God. He ought to be first. 
Jesus says, " Ye call me, Master, and, 
Lord: and ye say well; for so I am"; but 
if we refuse to honor him and say, "This 
is of no consequence and that is of no con- 
sequence ; we will do what we like and let 
the rest go," we cannot be his friends, for 
he says, "Ye are my friends, if ye do what- 
soever I command you." 

We must serve God in little things, be- 
cause they are connected with greater. In- 
deed, it is hardly possible to call anything 
little, because it may be of so much im- 



44 LITTLE THINGS 

portance. Some things are larger than oth- 
ers, but not necessarily more valuable. A 
little piece of gold is worth more than an 
iron crowbar. A tiny jewel may be worth 
enough to buy a house. Slight forces in 
Nature produce great results. Poisons are 
introduced into the system by minute parti- 
cles. The smallest parts of a vast engine 
are just as necessary to its structure as the 
largest, and the machinery of a whole fac- 
tory may be stopped for some little de- 
fect. So it is with character. Little things 
often decide our whole life. To be careless 
of them is to throw away the greatest ad- 
vantages. You have all heard of Benja- 
min Franklin. "The Life of Benjamin 
Franklin, written by Himself," is one of 
the books that every boy ought to read. 
One of his sayings I used to repeat when a 
child was this: "For want of a nail the 
shoe was lost ; for want of a shoe the horse 
was lost ; for want of a horse the rider was 
lost ; for want of a rider the battle was lost." 
You see what great things depend on 
things that are small. There are instances 
of this all through life. The careless 
throwing down of a match burns a great 



LITTLE THINGS 45 

city. A grasshopper is a little thing, but it 
is an actual fact that grasshoppers in some 
of our Western states have stopped a rail- 
road train. By getting on the track and 
being crushed under the wheels, they have 
sometimes made the rails so slippery that 
the wheels could not get a purchase, as we 
say. You that have gone along a little 
farther in school know that a wheel works 
on the principle of a lever and must have 
a fulcrum to act on, else -it makes no prog- 
ress. So the grasshoppers stopped the train. 
The Scripture says, "Who hath despised 
the day of small things?" One of our 
New England poets writes, — 

' * There is no great and no small 
To the Soul that maketh all." 

There is a Hindoo story, of an old man, 
who said to his son: "Bring me a fruit 
of that tree and break it open. What is 
there?" The son said, "Some small seeds." 
"Break one of them and what do you see?" 
"Nothing, my lord." "My child, where you 
see nothing there dwells a mighty tree." 

Our health depends on small things. We 
have more than two hundred and fifty 



1 46 LITTLE THINGS 

bones. If one of them gets broken or out 
of place, it gives you great pain. Keep 
them in place; be careful of them. We 
have five hundred muscles. Don't over- 
strain them. Give them proper food and 
exercise. Any of these two hundred and 
fifty bones or five hundred muscles can give 
you terrible pain if they are abused. You 
think it is a trifle what you eat and what 
you drink. Only a glass of beer, only a 
cigarette — that's nothing, men say; but they 
shorten life and ruin character. Your heart 
is a little organ, not one-quarter part as 
large as my hand, but it beats thirty mil- 
lion times in a year, and it is disturbed by 
every excess and by every angry, hateful 
passion. God has made our life depend on 
little things. See that you look out for 
them. Look out for your character. Your 
success depends on it. Men judge it by 
little things. 

A business man advertised for a boy to 
wait in his office. Four or five boys came 
and brought recommendations from their 
teachers. One boy had no written recom- 
mendation, because his teacher was sick 
and could not give it to him. But the busi- 



LITTLE THINGS 47 

ness man chose him, and sent all the rest 
away. His partner said to him, " Why did 
you choose that boy without any written 
recommendation?" "Because I saw he had 
better ones. I saw him carefully wipe his 
shoes on the mat before he came in. He 
took off his hat like a gentleman. I saw 
that his hands were clean and his hair well 
brushed, and when I spoke to him he an- 
swered modestly and politely, and I said, 
'That is the boy for me; he has his rec- 
ommendations written all over him.'" So it 
is that little things make up our life ; little 
words, little courtesies, little kindnesses. It 
is a very foolish thing to say, " Oh, that is 
nothing ; " to be careless about your habits 
in any way ; about your books or your 
clothes or anything that belongs to you. 
Some boys are always saying, " Mother, 
where is my hat?" "Mother, where is 
my book?" "Mother, where is my slate?" 
And when they grow up they will be apt 
to be just as careless and do a great deal 
of harm to themselves and others. A tri- 
fling mistake in figures makes a great er- 
ror in the whole column, and a flaw in a 
deed or will diverts property from those to 



48 LITTLE THINGS 

whom it belongs by right. So mind the 
little things, for " He that despiseth little 
things, by little and little shall he perish." 

Remember, too, that little things show- 
love. Love is worth more than gold, more 
than houses or lands. The wise man says, 
"If a man should give all the substance of 
his house for love, it should be utterly 
contemned." Now love reveals itself most 
clearly in slight actions. Little things are 
done most unconsciously. They are the 
outflow of the heart. Little acts of gentle- 
ness, little attentions, little gifts, a flower or 
a card, — how we treasure such things, and 
what a ray of sunshine they throw into the 
heart ! A girl's love to her mother is seen 
in helping her, in caring for her when sick, 
in giving her the best chair, and other sim- 
ple attentions. Some people are very care- 
less at home. They wish to be polite to 
strangers, but lay aside their company man- 
ners as they do their dress suits. Give me 
the boy and girl that show their love by 
gentle acts and sweet ways at home. 

Jesus noticed little attentions. While he 
was always ready to help others, he was 
sensitive to the expressions of love. He 



LITTLE THINGS 49 

was pleased when one thanked him for 
a kindness. In the house of Simon he 
missed those delicate civilities which he so 
well deserved, -^no water for his feet, no 
anointing for his head. "Thou gavest me 
no kiss." How pathetic it is to hear him 
say, in the garden of Gethsemane, " Could 
ye not watch with me one hour?" When 
you are sick in the night or in pain, how 
willing your mother is to be awake with 
you ! How good it seems to hear her 
voice ! The other night, at a wedding, I 
saw a full-.grown man kiss his brother. 
Some people laughed ; but he said, "Why 
should not I kiss my brother?" I love to 
see little tokens of affection which show 
that the heart is still young and tender. 
Our Lord Jesus noticed little gifts, — the 
woman with her two mites, the children 
with their songs. Jesus loved the voices 
of children. When you bring your penny 
to Sunday-school, sometimes with real self- 
denial, he sees and remembers the love 
you show him. When you rise in the 
morning and are in a hurry to get down 
to breakfast, Jesus notices whether you 
take a little time for prayer, whether you 



50 LITTLE THINGS 

say, "I cannot go down till I have asked 
Jesus to bless me and help me to do right." 
I find that I can say the Lord's Prayer 
slowly in about half a minute. Can't you 
give half a minute to God? Why, if you 
really loved him, you would. And yet it 
is in just such a little thing as this that 
people show r they care nothing for Jesus. 
In another half minute you can read a 
verse of Scripture, or even two or three, 
and that verse might be worth to you more 
than a fortune. I have heard of a soldier 
whose life was saved by a New Testament 
in his pocket over his heart, when a bullet 
that struck there would have killed him. 
But, if you have some word of Christ in 
your heart it will save you from worse 
than bullets. Remember that little things 
show love. Don't say, "Oh, that is noth- 
ing ! God will never notice such a trifle 
as that." Jesus says, "Whosoever shall 
give ... a cup of cold water only, . . . 
shall in no wise lose his reward." Little 
words and actions that seem to cost nothing 
are precious in his sight. I say, seem to 
cost nothing ; but they do cost everything, 
for they are heart gifts. Not the gift, but 



LITTLE THINGS 5 1 

the heart of the giver is precious in God's 
sight. Jesus says, "He that is faithful in a 
very little is faithful also in much." 

If it is worth while to serve God in little 
things, we ought to begin early. Now is the 
time for you and for us ail. But for children 
it means a great deal more, because you 
have your life before you. Your habits are 
to be formed. If you are careless about 
little things, if you lose time, if you put off 
your lessons, if you say to little duties, 
"That's nothing," you will be nothing your- 
self. The bad habits will get the better of 
you. The thorns will spring up and choke 
every good thing. And the more people 
do for you, the worse off you will be. The 
more luxuries you have, the weaker and 
more selfish you will grow. 

You know what a fine rain we had last 
week, and how much good it has done. 
Yes, but not to lazy people. My old 
Farmer's Almanac says, " Now for the bat- 
tle with the weeds, which are trying hard 
to get the mastery." The farmer that 
leaves them while they are little will get 
left himself. As Professor Bailey says, "A 
weed never misses an opportunity." Just 



52 LITTLE THINGS 

so with little faults, little temptations. The 
old fable tells us that Hercules strangled 
two serpents in his cradle. Many a little 
child learns to govern himself; that is 
better than to kill serpents. You will 
never be a strong man unless you conquer 
young. Kill the wicked words and the 
angry thoughts. They are more harmful 
than serpents. Now is the time; don't 
lose a day. 4< He that is faithful in a very 
little is faithful also in much." 

Just listen now two or three minutes 
longer. I want to tell you about the value 
of children to the church, and of the 
church to children. The church can never 
get on without children. She pays more 
attention to them now, and in that is grow- 
ing wiser and more like Christ. From the 
first he blessed little children and said 
that God had revealed to them many 
things which wiser heads did not know. 
I visited a rich church in New York city 
some time ago and asked how many there 
were in the Sunday-school. They told me 
fifteen. "Fifteen!" said I to myself; "that 
church will come to an end pretty soon ; " 
and it did. There is an old saying, 






LITTLE THINGS 53 

" Great without small 
Makes a bad wall." 

I love the stone walls of dear old New 
England. How nicely a good builder puts 
the small stones in with the larger ones ! 
Christ, the great builder, wants the little 
children ; that is the way he builds his 
Church, and every one ought to help along 
the Sunday-school. I am pleased when I 
hear of a baby born in our church. 
"There is a new deacon or a new 
teacher." The church will live when the 
children are given to Christ. We had one 
born last Sunday, and, I dare say, will 
have her in Sunday-school in less than 
two years. God bless her. Such is the 
value of the children to the church. 

But let me tell you also of the value 
of the church to the children. Each Sun- 
day is precious. The children ought to 
be here, not only to-day but always. They 
should have a home feeling in the church. 
They can easily be taught to love it. It 
will .save you from many temptations. It 
will make your life happier and better. 
Serve Christ from the beginning. Give 
him your heart. Ask him how to live. 



54 LITTLE THINGS 

You will learn it best by worshiping God 
with parents and teachers. Ask father or 
mother to help you about your Sunday- 
school lesson. Get them to read it with 
you. We need a family religion. Fam- 
ilies that keep together at church are 
happier at home. 

It is a solemn thought that we shall all 
have to stand together at last before our 
Saviour to tell him how we have spent our 
lives. If we begin right, we shall find 
it easier to go on in his service. If we 
use every Sabbath well, the week will be 
happier and the years will take care of 
themselves. 

It was very loving in Jesus to take 
children in his arms and bless them, but 
do you remember Mary, who sat at his 
feet, and John, who leaned on his breast 
at supper? Begin with Christ and you 
shall have him all along your journey, 
till you are old and weary, and then" he 
will not forsake you. He will reward 
every least action done for him, for "He 
that is faithful in a very little is faithful 
also in much." 



Ruth and Orpah 

The book of Ruth is one of the shortest 
books of the Bible. I think our little chil- 
dren know where to find it, for I believe 
that they are taught in the infant room to 
repeat the names of the Old Testament 
books in order. First come the five books of 
Moses, called the Pentateuch, then Joshua, 
then Judges, then Ruth. Ruth is a touch- 
ing story of a woman who went with her 
husband and her two sons into the land of 
Moab, where they all died except Naomi 
and the wives whom her sons had married. 
Moab was a country beyond the Dead Sea, 
perhaps one hundred miles from Bethle- 
hem, where Naomi had her early home. 
But one hundred miles was a great journey 
for those days, and it is probable, too, that 
they had to go on foot, as they were very 
poor. So Naomi, when she desired to 
return home, said to her daughters-in-law, 
" Go back to your relations and let them 
take care of you, and try to be happy in 

55 



56 RUTH AND ORPAH 

your early home." Ruth said, "No." She 
loved Naomi loo much. She would rather 
go with her, no matter how hard the jour- 
ney was. But Orpah did not like the 
prospect of poverty and fatigue. She 
thought she should have a better time in her 
own country. And that brings us to the 
passage, "Orpah kissed her mother in law; 
but Ruth clave unto her," which means 
that Ruth stayed with her and would not 
let her go alone. Ruth came to Bethle- 
hem, and found there a happy home. 

You know about Bethlehem. It was the 
birthplace of David, and long, long after, 
the birthplace of Jesus, and they were both 
descended from Ruth, who loved Naomi so 
well that she did n't leave her. 

Nobody cares for Orpah— we never hear 
of her again ; but everybody loves Ruth. 
Ruth is a favorite name ; at any rate it is a 
favorite name with me, for my grandmother 
was named Ruth, and I have had some 
dear relatives and friends of that name, and 
there have been a good many in this church. 
I was looking over some old records lately, 
and I found the name of Ruth a good many 
times as far back as 1754. * n J 775> two 



RUTH AND ORPAH 57 

were baptized in this church ; that was the 
year of the battle of Bunker Hill. And 
then I have an old book, in which Father 
Wilson kept the names of people he mar- 
ried, and there I found the name of Ruth 
in 1794 and 1795. 

I do not think it is quite as common now, 
but it is just as beautiful, and I will tell you 
what it means. There are two meanings 
given. Some say it means a "rose," but 
the best scholars say it means a " friend." 
I should be satisfied with either, and they 
suit very well the fair woman who became 
the mother of the most illustrious house of 
any nation of the world. I never heard 
anybody called Orpah. The Puritans used 
to ransack the Bible for names, but I do 
not think any one ever wanted to call a 
child Orpah. Now why not? We are not 
told anything against Orpah. Perhaps she 
was prettier than Ruth ; I do n't quite be- 
lieve she was, and I am sure she didn't 
have so sweet an expression, but she seems 
to have been kind and pleasant. She went 
a little way along the road w T ith Naomi and 
then she kissed her, and that was all. 

Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth 
5 



58 RUTH AND ORPAH 

clung to her and would not let her go 
alone. Now, if you will listen, I will try to 
tell you the difference. 

Orpah made a show of love, but Ruth had 
it in her heart. Orpah kissed Naomi ; that 
has been a sign of love in all ages. I do 
not know where it began, but I have no 
doubt it began in Eden. I presume Adam 
invented it. But no sign of love is as good 
as love itself. It is better to love with the 
heart, than only with the lips. The proverb 
says, " Faithful are the wounds of a friend; 
but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." 
Now, Orpah wasn't an enemy, but her love 
did not go very deep. She wanted to be 
kind to Naomi, but she did not care to stay 
with her. So she kissed her. I dare say 
she did it very earnestly, because she never 
expected to see her again. She could not 
help being fond of Naomi, for Naomi was 
so good a woman and had been so kind to 
her. But the kiss did not mean much. It 
was like shaking hands or making a bow 
or giving a salutation of any sort when it 
does not mean a great deal. If they had 
only been common friends or acquaintances, 
there would have been as much as this, 



J_ 



RUTH AND ORPAH 59 

and it would have merely signified good 
wishes. 

Very different was the feeling of Ruth. 
She had found in Naomi's character a new 
idea of life. All the affections of her youth 
had been transferred to her. All the mem- 
ories of her first love were enshrined in this 
dear woman. She could not bear to see her 
go forth alone, in her advancing years, 
bereaved of husband and children at once ; 
her love could not be appeased by kind 
wishes nor embraces. Her heart was with 
Naomi, and there was something more than 
kisses to express it. " Orpah kissed her 
mother in law ; but Ruth clave unto her." 
One gave the sign of love, the other had it 
in her heart. 

Orpah had quick feelings, but Ruth 
made a sacrifice. There is no use in de- 
nying that Orpah was affectionate. She 
doubtless was. We read that she wept 
with the others. Moreover, she joined with 
Ruth at first in saying, "Surely we will 
return with thee unto thy people. " She 
was what some people call demonstrative. 
Do you think that is a long word? I will 
tell you what it means. It means that 



60 RUTH AND ORPAH 

she did not hide her feelings, but let them 
right out. Some people have that way ; 
all the feeling they have, they show ; others 
keep it to themselves. You never know 
how they do feel. Now I do not think 
either is the best way. 

It is good to show our feelings some- 
times, and sometimes to keep them in ; but 
it is a pity to make a show of what we do 
not have. It is a pity to be too loud in 
our promises or to boast of our love. You 
remember that Peter boasted that he loved 
Jesus enough to die for him, and then 
you know what a fall he had. After that 
he was more modest, and only left it to 
Jesus himself, saying, "Lord, thou knowest 
all things ; thou knowest that I love thee." 

It will not do to be satisfied with tears 
or kisses or promises. Better prove your 
love by self-denial. Did you ever hear of 
a little child who was always telling how 
much he loved his mother and putting his 
arms around her neck and kissing her, 
and then going off to disobey her — not 
willing to go to bed when she said so, or 
teasing for things forbidden ? I have heard 
of such boys. I remember very plainly my 



RUTH AND ORPAH 6l 

own dear mother saying, " O my son, I 
love your kisses, but I wish you would 
remember to do what will please me." 

It is better to show your love by action. 
Self-denial is the test. There is a wonder- 
ful story woven together by the greatest of 
English poets — the story of King Lear. 
You will read it by and by, when you 
grow older. There were three daughters, 
and their old father, tired of his kingdom, 
called all the three before him and said, — 

" Tell me, my daughters, 



Which, of you shall we say doth love us most ? 
That we our largest bounty may extend, 
Where nature doth with merit challenge." 

The two eldest ones vied with each other 
in telling how much they loved and what 
they would do for him. But the youngest, 
Cordelia, did not say much. She had an 
honest heart. Her speech was not so glib. 
"I am sure," she says, "my love's more 
richer than my tongue. I should love but 
little if I could say how much." And then 
the sequel shows that she was the only one 
that truly loved. For the others treated the 
poor old king so cruelly that he cried out, — 



62 RUTH AND ORPAH 

" How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is 
To have a thankless child. " 

Love is shown by self-denial. Outward ex- 
pression is not enough, feeling is not enough, 
kisses are not enough, but the love that will 
make sacrifices endures to the end. 

Another point of contrast between Orpah 
and Ruth is that Orpah forsook Naomi, 
but Ruth clung to her. They were start- 
ing out for Bethlehem. I told you Moab 
was beyond the Dead Sea. Some of you 
have maps in your Bibles where you can 
find it, or I will show you some time on 
that large map in the Bible room. I do 
not know how they went ; I think it must 
have been round the southern part of the 
Dead Sea. Orpah did not like the idea; 
it would take several days, and the way 
seemed dreary and they were poor. But 
that made no difference to Ruth; she could 
not part from Naomi. Let the way be 
hard and dangerous, love would venture 
all. "Whither thou goest, I will go; and 
where thou lodgest, I will lodge : thy peo- 
ple shall be my people, and thy God my 
God." Do n't you think it is a good deal so 
with real love to Christ? If we really love 



RUTH AND ORPAH 63 

him, we shall wish to follow him ; even if 
the way is hard and self-denying, and the 
cross heavy, if we really love him, we 
shall not go back as Orpah did. If the 
way is good enough for him, it is good 
enough for us. 

Orpah thought, "Perhaps we shall have 
to sleep on the ground, and perhaps we 
shall hear the cry of wild beasts, or be 
attacked by robbers, or at the best we may 
have little to eat." But Ruth said to her- 
self, "I cannot leave Naomi so lonely; 
she may be sick and nobody to speak to ; 
she may be tired and faint, while I could 
help her get food or build a fire to warm 
her." The thought of letting Naomi go 
alone was more than she could bear. 

And yet there are a good many people 
who are willing to let Christ go alone. 
You know he went alone to his cross ; 
even Peter forsook him. Only a few of 
his friends followed afar off. Do n't you 
think you would show your love better by 
keeping close to him? You can keep 
close to him by doing kind acts, by deny- 
ing yourselves, by choking down angry 
words, by being willing to do a hard duty, 



64 RUTH AND ORPAH 

so as to be like Christ. "Ye are my 
friends, if ye do whatsoever I command 
you" — that is, clinging close to Christ and 
following him. And that is why we love 
Ruth better than Orpah ; because one for- 
sook Naomi and the other clung to her. 

Orpah kept on in all her old habits. 
Ruth became changed in character and 
piety. What we know of the Moabites is 
not favorable. If they were not as bad as 
the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, 
over whose charred ruins rolled the bitter 
waters of the Dead Sea, they were cer- 
tainly not much better in principle. Idola- 
try reigned among them, and with it were 
connected horrible vices. Orpah was will- 
ing to return and dwell amid such influ- 
ences. " Behold," said Naomi, "thy sister 
in law is gone back unto her people, and 
unto her gods." She chose idolatry with 
all its consequences. The pure and whole- 
some laws which governed Israel, with its 
Sabbaths and daily worship, and strict rules 
of life, had no charm for her. She thought 
she loved Naomi, but her love was not 
enough to change her habits. 

Very different was it with Ruth, who 



RUTH AND ORPAH 65 

was ready to forsake all. She had seen 
Naomi's patience and sweetness. She had 
witnessed her devotion and trust in God, 
and her heart was touched. She wanted 
the same piety and was willing to give up 
all for it. 

You cannot be a Christian and follow 
all your old, bad habits. Sometimes chil- 
dren think that all that is necessary is to 
say, " I love Jesus," " I believe in Jesus," 
" I want to be saved by Him." But that 
is not all. John says, "My little children, 
let us not love in word, neither in tongue ; 
but in deed and in truth." Some people 
think it is no matter how they behave, if 
they only say their prayers and sing 
hymns, but God wants new habits. If you 
have a habit of being late or of getting 
-others to do what you ought to do your- 
self; if you have a habit of troubling your 
brothers and sisters, and teasing your 
mother ; if you always want to be listened 
to first, and want the largest share of 
anything good for yourself, that is not 
being a Christian. You must change all 
that. Love works a change in the life. 
True love alters the tones, alters the behav- 



66 RUTH AND ORPAH 

ior, makes us think of others and try to 
live so as to please them. 

And the highest human affection is 
blended with love to God. I suppose Ruth 
loved Naomi before she loved God. That 
is the way to begin. Children begin with 
loving their parents and those about them. 
By and by they learn about their Father 
in heaven, and Jesus who came to earth to 
save them. Now, if they have any true 
love, if it is anything more than kisses or 
promises, they will try to do right; they 
will be ready to give up their own wishes 
and even do some things they do not like 
to do. 

Love breaks down selfishness. It takes 
our heart and puts it right into our 
mother's heart, or the heart of our friend, 
and it beats for thern and tries to please 
them. And that is what is meant when 
we give our hearts to Jesus, that we are 
trying to please him. We cannot always 
tell how much we love him, but if we 
keep his commandments, our love will 
grow day by day. 

The reason that Ruth is such a lovely 
character is that her love to Naomi was 



RUTH AND ORPAH 67 

joined with love to God. We may think 
of them as they went around by the deso- 
late shores of the Dead Sea, and then 
across the mountains and plains. I think 
it must have been nearly one hundred 
miles by the way they had to go. At 
night perhaps they found some tent or cot- 
tage where a kind heart would receive 
them, for the people were hospitable in 
those days, or perhaps sometimes they 
found no place to sleep on but the ground. 
But they knelt and prayed morning and 
evening ; they believed that God would 
take care of them, and so they went, hand 
in hand, until they came to Bethlehem. 
Ruth did not forsake Naomi ; she did not 
mind dangers nor poverty, nor going into a 
strange country. " Whither thou goest, I 
will go ; and where thou lodgest, I will 
lodge : thy people shall be my people, and 
thy God my God." 

Now do you wonder that I like the 
name of Ruth better than that of Orpah? 
Ruth has given her sweet name to many 
children in all ages, and will to many 
more, until the dear Saviour shall come 
again, in whose royal line she will ever be 



68 RUTH AND ORPAH 

remembered, not for her beauty and her 
gentleness alone, but for her self-sacri- 
ficing love. 

And now, dear children, I want you to 
remember the difference. I have given 
you four reasons why we prefer Ruth to 
Orpah. Orpah gave a sign of love, but 
Ruth had love in her heart. Orpah had 
quick feelings, but Ruth made a sacrifice. 
Orpah forsook Naomi, but Ruth clung to 
her. Orpah kept on with her old habits, 
but Ruth changed her life. 

From this story we ought to learn a 
lesson of friendship. I told you that 
Ruth means a friend, though some think 
it means a rose, but certainly she was a 
true friend, and that is high praise for 
any one. It means a great deal. True 
friendship works a change in us. It is 
not a fancy, it is not merely kisses 
and candy, but it is a deep and gener- 
ous feeling. It makes us want to do 
good to others. It can only exist where 
there is something to respect. It will die 
unless there is good character on both 
sides. Bad people may love each other 
for a time, but unless their love sancti- 



RUTH AND ORPAH 69 

fies them and makes them better, it will 
die out like a lamp without oil. Love 
your friends and try to be better for 
their sakes and cling to them whatever 
happens. It is a beautiful proverb that 
says, "A friend loveth at all times, and 
a brother is born for adversity." 

Don't forget your friends when they are 
sick or in trouble. Don't forsake your 
mother when she is old, but love and 
.cherish your dear ones always. 

When I was a little boy I learned a 
story in verse,— I think it was by Mrs. 
Follen, — of a boy named Johnny, who had 
a new pair of shoes. He wanted to put 
them right on and wear them all day 
long, and have his old shoes thrown 
away. His mother advised him to try the 
new ones gradually, but no ! he must 
wear them all day long, and the soles 
were so smooth that he had many a fall, 
and the leather was so stiff that at night 
his poor little feet were red and blistered, 
and he was glad the next day to go 
back to the old shoes. And the moral 
was : 



70 RUTH AND ORPAH 

44 Never part from old shoes till they part from you, 
Let your new ones be always well tried ; 
Old shoes and old friends are far better than new, 
And, trust me, more worthy of pride.'" 

Those lines always stayed by me. I 
love the old friends and wish I were 
more worthy of them, not only those who 
are here, but many whom I hope to 
meet in that better world, where our love 
and our joy shall be forever perfect. 

We should learn, too, a lesson of sin- 
cerity. Do n't be satisfied with professions 
or outward signs of love, but have the 
love in your heart. Kisses are all very 
well at the right time, but let them mean 
something. It is better to be quiet and 
not to boast than it is to make a show 
of love which is only on the surface. 

Kisses do not always mean love ; 
there are a good many proverbs that 
teach this. One is, " Faithful are the 
wounds of a friend ; but the kisses of an 
enemy are deceitful." And this reminds 
me of some other places in the Bible. 
We read that David had two captains and 
they were jealous of each other. Joab 
took Amasa by the beard to kiss him, 



RUTH AND ORPAff 7 1 

and as he did so he thrust a sword into 
his side ; that kiss meant anything but 
love. And who does not remember the 
man who came to Jesus in the garden 
and said, "Hail, Master," and kissed him, 
to whom Jesus answered, " Betrayest thou 
the Son of man with a kiss?" It is a 
mean thing to profess when you do not 
feel it. Every time you give your mother 
a good-night kiss, try to love her better, 
and show your love by kind acts. Every 
time you say you love the Saviour and 
sing his praise, think of what he says, 
" Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever 
I command you." 

Be a true and constant friend and fol- 
lower of Christ, in daily love and obedi- 
ence, that what he said of a little child 
on earth may be true of every one of 
you, as long as you live: "Of such is 
the kingdom of God." 



x. 



Curiosity 



It seems strange that we should be told 
so little about the childhood of Jesus. 
After his infancy, we hear nothing until 
he was twelve years old. Then we have 
a little story of his going to Jerusalem. 
There, with the freedom of a boy, he 
lingered behind his parents, listening to 
the teachers in the temple. 

It was a time of anxiety for the father 
and mother ; it was a time of the forma- 
tion of character for the child. They 
missed the fearless lad, who had no 
thought of any harm coming to him in 
such sacred scenes, and in the temple 
there was a foreshadowing of his life- 
work. "Wist ye not," he says, "that 
I must be about my Father's business?" 
or, as the Revised Version gives if, "in 
my Father's house?" I wish children and 
parents would all think of the church as 
our Father's house. We should love it 

more and come more willingly, 

72 



CURIOSITY 73 

What was he doing ? Both hearing 
and asking questions. Those are the two 
parts of learning — hearing and asking 
questions ; a good listener and a good 
questioner. He wished to find out things 
about the law and about the history of 
God's people. He had a noble curiosity. 
Curiosity is trying to find out the mean- 
ing of things. It has its value and it 
has its danger. There are different kinds 
of curiosity. 

Our Lord's curiosity was a wise one. 
He desired to know things that were 
worth knowing. We are expressly told 
that he increased in wisdom, — that is 
the way he did it. The wise boy wants 
to find out the reason of things. He 
asks the names of objects, of trees or of 
flowers, or birds, or insects. The wise 
girl likes to know how things are made. 
Even the baby has a sort of instinct that 
leads to examining this and that and pull- 
ing it to pieces to try its strength. We 
call it mischief, but it springs from a 
desire to know and test the nature of the 
object, and if rightly directed it leads to 
good results. Some great thinkers have 



74 CURIOSITY 

said that curiosity is the most powerful 
motive in the world. One of them has 
called it "the scourge of the soul"; — 
that is, it drives men forward as with a 
whip with many lashes. You cannot teach 
a child anything unless you awaken his 
curiositv. If the girl really wants to 
learn, it is easy to teach her. 

A right curiosity is the key to knowl- 
edge. The boy who is not satisfied to get 
only the answer to his problem, but 
who wishes to know the reason of it and 
understand why he does it in this way, 
will go on step by step. Even if he 
forgets the rule, he will make a rule for 
himself, because he knows the principles 
on which it depends. So curiosity is the 
key to knowledge. 

It is the key to invention. All the 
inventions of modern times have" come 
from curiosity. Some inquiring mind 
watched the process of things and said, 
"Can there not be some easier way?" It 
was thus that clocks and watches were 
invented. They had no clocks in the 
churches in early New England ; they 
used to have an hour-glass on the pulpit 



CURIOSITY 75 

to tell how long the minister preached. 
They were ashamed of him if he did not 
preach an hour. 

Curiosity made the steam-engine and 
sewing-machines, telegraphs and the tele- 
phone. Curiosity has made known to us 
the heavenly bodies. Men longed to find 
out about the stars and their motions, and 
watched them and made telescopes to look 
at them. It is well worth while in the 
summer, when you are in the country, 
where the electric lights do not make the 
heavens look black, to studv the stars and 
learn their names. I hope some of you 
will be curious enough to do it. 

But curiosity has discovered our earth. 
Men used to think it was a flat plain. 
The Indians said that it rested on the 
back of a tortoise, who used to move 
about sometimes and make earthquakes. 
But God has taught us to study for 
ourselves, and so we have found out what 
the earth is, and we know just how large 
it is, and all about its islands and rivers, 
and seas and mountains. The ancients 
used to think the sea surrounded the 
earth, and had no idea of crossing it, 



76 CURIOSITY 

but God put it into the heart of Columbus 
to search for a path across it. He was 
so curious that he could not rest, and so 
at length he found it. 

Christ sent men to discover all lands. 
He said to his messengers, "Go ye into 
all the world," and so they have gone 
and are still going. Twelve hundred 
years ago some pious missionaries brought 
the gospel to England and taught our 
ancestors about Christ. Before that they 
were painted savages living in the woods. 
Not long after they went far north to 
Iceland and carried the gospel. And now 
in our time more is being done to con- 
vert the world than ever before. 

Did you ever see a printing press ? 
Oh, yes ! Some of you have had one, a 
little one, perhaps. Some curious man 
invented types; first wooden types," then 
metallic types. iVmong the earliest books 
printed was the "Poor Man's Bible," so 
called because it could be sold cheaply. 
What a blessing it has been to the poor 
man ! Now all over the world almost every 
one can have a Bible. Millions are printed 
and sold or given away every year. 



CURIOSITY 77 

Has not curiosity been a blessing to 
the world? All the comforts of life, all 
the knowledge we possess, and all the 
good we can do to others comes through 
an inquiring spirit that seeks out truth. 
Jesus says, "Ask, and it shall be given 
you; seek and ye shall find." We not 
only ask in prayer, but we are to seek 
in the Bible and in the book of Nature. 

We are to find out ways to help the 
poor and the sick and to make others 
better as well as to grow wiser ourselves. 

Such are the benefits of curiosity when 
rightly used. That is the kind of curi- 
osity that Jesus had and that he wants 
us to have. I call that a wise curiosity. 

But there is a mean curiosity. It shows 
itself in two ways. One is in prying 
into things that do not concern us. It is 
a mean curiosity to try to find out things 
that we ought not. We ought to ask 
questions that will help us to be more 
useful ; but we ought not to pry into 
others' affairs or listen to things that do 
not concern us. They say "Listeners 
never hear any good of themselves," 
which means that when we seek to find 



78 CURIOSITY 

out what others say about us we some- 
times hear unpleasant things. It is better 
to do our duty and not ask w r hat people say. 

Some, people are afraid to do anything 
till they have found out what somebody 
will do. You know Peter said to Jesus, 
"Lord, and what shall John do?" and 
Jesus answered, "What is that to thee? 
Follow thou me." Dare to do right, no 
matter what the rest do or what the 
others think. Some are always saying, 
"I want to be like the other boys 
or like the other girls." Yes, if they do 
right and set a good example, but if 
they are proud or vain or tell what is 
not true or are unkind to one another, 
go your way and follow Christ, even if 
you have to go alone. It is a mean 
curiosity to be always asking what others do. 

And it is a mean curiosity to try 
things that are hurtful. Some boys are 
always trying to do dangerous things, to 
skate on thin ice, or to play with gun- 
powder. I even read of some boys who 
threw stones at a package of dynamite and 
caused a terrible explosion. Every Fourth 
of July some people are killed or maimed 



CURIOSITY 79 

for life, boys lose their fingers or their 
eyes by this sort of curiosity. "But," 
you say, " shall we have no Fourth of 
July ? Shall we not be allowed to have 
any fun?" Oh, yes, if you will do it 
without risking your life or the lives of 
other people. Is it not strange that a 
boy will run such an awful risk of being 
made blind or lame all his life just out 
of curiosity to see what a tremendous 
noise he can make? Isn't that a mean 
curiosity ? 

But many think they get their pleasure 
in this way. Many boys want to know 
the taste of tobacco and how it will 
make them feel, and how fine they will 
look with a cloud of smoke coming out 
of their mouths. And others will want to 
know the taste of liquor. I knew a 
young man in college who confessed to 
me that he drank just to find out how it 
would seem to be intoxicated. There are 
a great many things that it is better not 
to know. Even the animals teach us a 
lesson, for they will hardly ever eat a 
poisonous weed, but will choose that 
which will be good for them. 



80 CURIOSITY 

There is a great deal in the world that 
it were better not to know, bad books, 
bad company, bad amusements. Keep out 
of them. Do not be led away by a mean 
curiosity, but seek those things which 
will make you wise unto eternal life. So 
we see there is a wise curiosity, and 
there is a mean curiosity. 

But there is also an idle curiosity. 
There are many things which we cannot 
know in this world, even with all our 
searching. Men used to think they could 
pry into the future. In old times there 
were fortune tellers ; there are some now, 
and spirit rappers, who profess to make 
known future events. Others were curious 
to discover the philosopher's stone, which 
would turn all things into gold. Others 
tried to find perpetual motion ; but it 
cannot be done. A lively boy is the 
nearest thing to perpetual motion that has 
yet been discovered. There are limits to 
all knowledge. Any fool can ask ques- 
tions that a wise man cannot answer. 
The disciples came to Jesus and asked, 
" Are there few that be saved ? " 
He did not answer. No one can know 



CURIOSITY 8 1 

how many will be saved. Only he told 
them to "strive to enter in at the 
strait gate." We all know that if we 
seek God with all our hearts we shall 
find him, but if we forsake him he will 
cast us off forever. 

Some are asking idle questions about 
the Bible. Why did it not tell some 
things more plainly? Why were good 
men so afflicted, and why were men 
allowed to sin? But these questions can 
never be answered. It is curious to 
notice what happens in a Sunday-school 
class. On the whole, I think too few 
questions are asked. I think we ought to 
encourage questions. Sometimes in a Sun- 
day-school or a prayer-meeting they have 
a question box for those who would 
rather not speak. It is better to talk 
with one another, and a teacher should 
be patient and answer everything as well 
as he can ; but sometimes questions are 
asked not to help but to hinder. 

Curiosity is good, but it has its limits. 
There are things that we never can find 
out in this world. A famous author wrote 
a book on the limits of human thought. 



82 CURIOSITY 

Every one who studies much finds that 
there are bounds that he cannot pass. 

Robinson Crusoe could go about his 
island and learn what it contained and 
get wood to build his house and make a 
pen for the goats that he tamed, but 
when he came to the shore, he could go 
no further. Some ship must come to 
take him off, if he was ever going to 
escape. So always man comes to the 
bounds of his knowledge. 

I have heard of a prince who was 
made a prisoner. But they did not put 
him in a dark dungeon or cell. They 
put him in a beautiful palace and he 
could go into all the rooms and see all 
the spacious halls and books and pictures. 
More than that, he could go out and 
walk in the groves and gardens ; but one 
day when he went a little farther "than 
usual he came against a solid wall ; then 
he tried another direction, but everywhere 
he was hemmed in by the wall. There 
was no escape. Man is this prince. He 
has a beautiful home in this world, its 
wonders are open to him. He can study 
the myriad forms of plants and animals. 



CURIOSITY 83 

He can build cities and travel over land 
and sea. But soon he finds it is only a 
little world. Much of what is in it puz- 
zles him, and he looks with curious eyes 
to what is beyond. But he is hemmed 
in by a solid wall. 

When our first parents were driven out 
of Paradise, we are told that God placed 
at the east of the garden of Eden cheru- 
bim and a flaming sword, which turned 
every way to keep the way of the tree 
of life. I do not know exactly what that 
means, but I think it refers to the limits 
placed on our knowledge. We can only 
go a little way, compared with what we 
wash to know. Like Robinson Crusoe on 
his island, we find ourselves hemmed in 
on every side. There is an unknown sea 
all about us. That is the reason God 
has given us the Bible, to tell us of 
things which we cannot find out of our- 
selves. That is the reason Christ came 
to earth, to make known the love of God. 
We believe people who come and tell us 
of what they have seen in distant lands ; 
how much more should we believe Jesus 
Christ ! He tells us nothing foolish or un- 



84 CURIOSITY 

reasonable. He shows his truth *and love 
in every word. He is willing to die for 
our redemption. 

Now some people say we cannot know 
anything about God and heaven, because 
we cannot see them for ourselves. But 
here is our need of faith. We must 
believe in Christ, who has died for us. 
We must not try to find out everything 
by our own wisdom. If you were alon«e 
in a great city like New York, you 
would ask the way and would believe 
what was told you, or else you would 
get a map and find out the streets. The 
Bible is our map. Christ is our guide. 
We can trust him; thousands have trust- 
ed him. Many of your own friends have 
believed on him and lived happy lives 
and have sailed out on the unknown sea, 
assured that Christ would take care of 
them, as the great poet Tennyson told us 
in one of his last poems : 

Twilight and evening bell, 

And after that the dark ! 
And may there be no sadness of farewell, 

When I embark ; 



CURIOSITY 85 

For thcr from out our bourne of Time and Place 

The flood may bear me far, 
I hope to see my Pilot face to face, 

When I have crost the . bar. 

We must not be vainly curious of 
things that we cannot know, but we must 
trust Christ and trust our own conscience 
where we cannot see, for Jesus has said, 
"What I do thou knowest not now; but 
thou shalt know hereafter. 5 ' 

Now we have seen that there is a 
wise curiosity and a mean curiosity and 
that there should be limits to our curi- 
osity, so that we must have faith in God 
and let him lead us in his own way. 

I want the boys and girls in this 
church to have the right kind of curiosity. 
We must not try to find out things that 
do not concern us. We must not ask 
foolish questions nor too many. And I 
want to say to parents that they must 
listen to their children's questions and try 
to help them. Remember that the only 
thing we know about Christ in his youth 
is about his asking questions and hear- 
ing others. And so he went through 
life. He taught people to think. I would 



86 CURIOSITY 

not give much for a child who had no 
curiosity, and yet he must know how to 
control it. 

In Worcester, where I went to school, 
there was a well-known man named Icha- 
bod Washburn. His mother was poor, 
and when he was a boy nine years old 
he was sent to live with a harness- 
maker. As he was going home with the 
man he saw a windmill. "What's that?" 
said he. The master answered roughlv, 
"Don't ask so many questions, boy." 
The boy never forgot it. He did not stop 
asking questions, but he tried to find out 
all he could that was useful ; he asked 
questions with his eyes and his ears ; that 
is, he studied into things with an inquir- 
ing spirit and so he invented machinery 
for making wire. With the first money 
he made as an apprentice, he hired a 
seat for himself in the church and con- 
secrated his money to good objects, so 
that the aged and poor of Worcester bless 
his memory and many a young man has 
learned courage and faith from him. 

How, then, shall we apply our curiosity? 
All knowledge is useful. Everything you 



CURIOSITY 87 

can know about nature is valuable. If 
you are in the country this summer, learn 
the names of trees, and of birds, and of 
flowers. Keep your eyes and ears open. 
If you meet a farmer's boy who has n't 
been to school as much as you have, very 
likely he knows ten times as much as 
you do about woods and fields, and 
about animals. Learn all you can of 
common things. Improve your mind and 
improve your heart. Find out ways of 
doing good. Go to Christ with the ques- 
tion, "What wilt thou have me to do?" 
Perhaps this summer will be the turning- 
point of your life. I said there are many 
things that we cannot know. With all our 
curiosity we cannot find out how long we 
are going to live, nor whether we shall 
be always healthy, or escape from acci- 
dents, nor exactly what place in life we 
are going to fill, but we can take this 
question to Christ, u Lord, what wilt thou 
have me to do?" 

These boys and girls can ask God to 
make them usefuh These parents ought 
to say, " I would rather have my child 
truthful, industrious, kind-hearted, than to 



88 CURIOSITY 

have him get all the riches of the world." 
And we can all offer the prayer, "That 
which I see not, teach Thou me." 

How many of these boys and girls 
think of what they will do when they 
grow up ? I will venture to say all of 
them think of it sometimes. One says, 
"I would like to be a doctor," and 
another, "I would like to be a mer- 
chant, or a musician, or a teacher, or 
an architect, or a minister, or an artist." 
I like to have young people think about 
such things. The boy is father of the 
man. The poet says, "The thoughts of 
youth are long, long thoughts." 

Now what are you going to be? I 
hope some of you will be ministers or 
missionaries. This church has always had 
them. The other day, when a class of 
boys came up into my room behind the 
organ, two or three of them came and 
stood here in the pulpit, I suppose to see 
how it would seem. My heart was 
touched when I saw them, and I said to 
myself, "God grant that when I am gone 
this church may never want sons to 
preach the gospel !" Boys and girls, ask 



CURIOSITY 89 

Christ what to do. You will not hear 
his voice, but he will be a voice in 
your conscience. He will make the way 
plain. Only be sure that you ask him 
first of all to make you a Christian, lov- 
ing God and loving your fellow man. 
The first thing of all is to have God for 
your friend. Be on his side. Do the 
thing he wants you to, with all your 
might, and he will make your way 
blessed. Begin like Christ, by hearing and 
asking questions — be in your Father's house 
and about your Father's business. 



Making Collections 

When children go out picking berries, 
as I used to do often when a boy, they 
take with them pails or baskets. Some- 
times they take a little cup to fill quickly, 
and then pour into the pail. In this way, 
they get along faster. Squirrels gather 
nuts and carry them to their holes for 
winter, and many other animals do the 
same thing. Birds build their nests by 
collecting twigs and bits of thread, and 
many curious things. Those which are 
of little value by themselves are worth 
a great deal when put together, just 
as the drops of rain form a well or 
even a lake to supply a whole city. 
We all make collections of some sort, 
and if we do it in a right way, it is 
wise to begin early. 

One of the most important things that 
we have is our memory. This makes us 
what we are, and endears us to our 
friends, and is the source of all we have 

90 



MAKING COLLECTIONS 91 

to think about. If it were not for our 
memory, we could n't talk. The baby 
gets a word soon after he gets a tooth ; 
and then he adds another to it, and so 
on almost every day, till by the time he 
has 'twenty teeth he has several hundred 
words. It is amazing how fast he picks 
them up, and long words, too. Children 
brought up with grown people rather like 
long words. I knew a little fellow who 
had a whip given him when he was five 
years old. He was very much pleased, and 
when something was said about it, per- 
haps that he must not hurt any one with 
it, " Oh," said he, "it is a very intelli- 
gent whip." Now words are precious, if 
you lay them up rightly. Good words 
help knowledge. Bad words defile the 
mind. That is what Jesus meant when 
He said, "That which cometh out of the 
mouth, this defileth a man." Angry words, 
slang words that have no sense, bitter 
words that sting other people, — it is a 
pity to lay up such as these. On the 
other hand, to remember good words, 
the names of useful things, is a blessing. 
A boy can remember the names of tools 



92 MAKING COLLECTIONS 

and the sails of a ship, and a girl can 
tell the names of trees and flowers, and 
both of them can remember verses of 
Scripture. 

The Christian Endeavor Society is doing 
a great work in laying up passages from 
the Bible in memory. No matter if you 
do not understand them at first. We 
never understand words until we use 
them. The child learns to utter sounds 
and then finds out their meaning, just 
as when we see a thing and ask the 
name of it, and then find out what it is 
for. Here is a child who lays up some 
beautiful poem or hymn in his memory, 
and it clings to him all his life. Some 
thread of association brings it up when 
he is far from home, and it links him t® 
his youth and keeps his heart young, 
even when his hair grows gray. I 
wouldn't lose the memory of lines my 
father quoted and passages of Scripture 
he loved, for half the books in my 
library. For what are books good for if 
you don't remember them? Begin to lay 
up good things in your memory, good 
words and good thoughts. They crowd 



MAKING COLLECTIONS 93 

out the bad things. Then your mind will 
be well stored. Everybody lays up some- 
thing. Be sure that you lay up things 
worth remembering. 

You should lay up things worth keep- 
ing. The disposition to lay up things is 
a part of our nature. Some say it is an 
instinct. And the Bible often refers to 
the ants and the bees, that lay up in 
store for the future. Dogs will hide a 
bone to have something to eat by and 
by. This propensity to lay up is neces- 
sary for man. In a cold climate, we 
should have no food in the winter, nor 
coal to warm us, unless they were laid 
up beforehand. 

Now there is a right way of laying up 
and a wrong way. It is good to lay up 
money, if you do it in the right way. 
Some children spend it as fast as they 
can. Some save it to buy presents, or 
to give to the poor, or to teach the 
ignorant, and some lay it up selfishly. 
But we all have a propensity to lay up 
something. We want to own something. 
The little child says, "I want something 
for my very own." 



94 MAKING COLLECTIONS 

That feeling belongs to our nature. 
You cannot blot it out. It lies deep in 
the constitution of society, and if I were 
talking to grown people I should say : 
"You cannot set up the doctrine of the 
socialists. You cannot destroy the right of 
property until you destroy human nature." 
We all want to lay up something. The 
child wants to make collections. Boys 
like to lay up something, if it 's only mar- 
bles or horse-chestnuts. Oh, what times 
mother would have emptying my pockets ! 
She would say, "Why, my son, your 
pockets weigh more than you do your- 
self." And there are some men whose 
pockets weigh more than they do. Al- 
most every boy or girl makes a collection. 
One makes a collection of postage stamps, 
another of shells, another of insects and 
butterflies, another of eggs, another of 
coins. 

I went to see a little boy the other 
day, who had to stay in the house 
because of a broken leg, and he showed 
me a lot of pretty stones and minerals 
that he had picked up in the country, 
and it was beautiful to see how much 



MAKING COLLECTIONS 95 

pleasure he took in them. I love to see 
children have a fancy for collecting. It 
is one of the most useful things in the 
world. All the cabinets and beautiful 
museums and treasures of gems and 
curious plants have come from this. An 
eminent teacher inquired of two hundred 
pupils, and found that all but five had 
made collections of some sort. Now 
phrenologists tell us that there is a 
bump of "acquisitiveness," that is, a bump 
of laying up things. Now, I don't believe 
much in bumps, but to lay up things is a 
strong tendency in human nature. We 
all want to lay up something. Many 
will lay up money. Some will lay up 
old letters. Some hate to throw away 
anything. You will find in every house 
old things that are good for nothing, but 
people say they keep them for the asso- 
ciation. We call some things "keepsakes," 
and indeed the tenderest thoughts will 
fasten round a faded ribbon, a little out- 
grown frock, or something that belonged 
to a dear child now an angel in heaven. 
There are things worth laying up and 
things that are not. It's a dreadful thing 



g6 MAKING COLLECTIONS 

to be a miser, to lay up money just for 
the sake of it, to hang on to it and try 
to keep it safe, and count it and dream 
of it. And let me tell you, some of the 
lower animals- seem to be misers, while 
some, like the ant and the bee, give a 
beautiful example of industry. Some 
hoard up things without sense or mean- 
ing. Professor Silliman describes a Cal- 
ifornia wood rat that made his home in 
an empty stove in an unoccupied house. 
And what do you think he had in it ? 
" He had a quantity of nails with the 
points outward, as if to protect his home. 
Then he had brought from different parts 
of the house, two dozen knives, forks 
and spoons, three butcher's knives, a 
large carving knife, fork, and steel, sev- 
eral plugs of tobacco, an old purse con- 
taining silver and matches, nearly all the 
small tools from a tool closet, the outside 
casing of a silver watch in one corner, 
the glass in another, and the works in 
still another. " That was a wood rat; and 
there are some men just like him. 

Now which will you be like, the 
wood rat, or the ant and the honey-bee ? 



MAKING COLLECTIONS 97 

It is good to lay up if you do it in the 
right way. Some boys save their first 
money for books, and some for tools, and 
some for a printing press, and some, as 
I said, to help the poor. King Josiah 
laid up money to build the house of 
God, and while the workmen were repair- 
ing it they found the Bible, that is, the 
book of the law, all the Bible they had 
in those days. You' have had a Sunday- 
school lesson about it. If he had just 
laid up money to be selfish, like a miser, 
or to feast, like a glutton, he would have 
left a bad name and had a miserable 
reign, but he laid up money for good 
purposes. You know what miser means. 
It is a Latin word meaning miserable. 

There are things worth laying up, 
things that are useful, to feed us and 
give us knowledge, and things that are 
beautiful and helpful to others. It is a 
blessed thing in youth to begin to lay 
up things worth keeping. 

It is good to lay up things worth 
remembering and things worth keeping. 
Let us add, things worth doing. It is 
important in youth to lay up things 



98 MAKING COLLECTIONS 

worth doing. You know when you do a 
thing, it is laid up, that is to say, you 
can't undo it. You can't bring back yes- 
terday. You can't mend the broken glass. 
Things worth doing, then, are very 
important. Deeds are more than words, 
and more than money or treasures 
of any sort. You can lay up good 
habits, habits of kindness and self-de- 
nial. I know a little boy who has a 
baby brother several years younger than 
he is, and he is very kind to him ; he 
will stay in from his play to take care 
of him. He will keep very quiet when 
baby is asleep. That is the w.ay to lay 
up acts of kindness. The child that 
begins in that way will be happier and 
make others happier all his life. 

Some children have habits of order and 
neatness. They take care of their books 
and playthings and know where they are to 
be found. Such a one will not be wast- 
ing half his life, as some people are, in 
hunting for things that he has mislaid, 
and charging other people with carrying 
them off. He will be prompt at getting 
up, and not always saying, "Wait a 



MAKING COLLECTIONS 99 

minute," and so when he grows up, he 
will not lose the train, nor ~be behind- 
hand, but people can tell when he agrees 
to do a thing that he will do it. 

It is a dreadful thing to be cruel or 
selfish in youth, because a cruel boy 
will make a cruel man. Lay up deeds 
of kindness. Learn to govern yourselves. 
It is an old saying, " He that resisteth 
pleasure crowneth his life." Alexander 
was the conqueror of the world, but he 
could not govern himself, so when he 
was angry and intoxicated he killed his 
best friend. After he had done it, he 
was filled with remorse. He would have 
given half his kingdom to get back the 
bloody stroke, but he could not do it. 
You can do a thing in a minute which 
a whole lifetime cannot wear out, and 
you can do some kind and loving act 
that will make you happy forever. Josiah 
began to seek the Lord when he was 
young. The way to seek God is to 
pray every morning and every evening. 
You know the Lord's prayer is a morn- 
ing prayer, — " Give us this day our daily 
bread." Some people only pray at night, 
L.cfC. 



I OO MAKING COLLECTIONS 

as if they were a little afraid when the 
darkness comes on, and would like to 
have God take care of them. But David 
said, " My voice shalt thou hear in the 
morning, O Lord." It is good to thank 
God in the bright morning and to say, 
"Lead us not into temptation." 

Lay up deeds of self-denial. Jesus was 
always thinking about others. We are 
told that he pleased not himself; that 
was the secret of his life. Some chil- 
dren think they could be happy if they 
could do just as they pleased. But that 
was not the way Christ did. " He pleased 
not himself," but he tried to make others 
happy, and he did. He healed the sick, 
he fed the hungry, he opened the blind 
eyes, and spoke kindly to little children, 
so that they loved to follow him and 
sing his praise. And that was what 
made him say, almost the last time he 
met his disciples, " I have spoken to 
you that my joy might remain in you." 
They might scourge him, and buffet him, 
and crucify him, but they could not 
blot out the joy of kind deeds that live 
forever. And every child who has ever 



MAKING COLLECTIONS IOI 

denied himself, done a kind act, been 
generous to his playmate, or told the 
truth when it was pretty hard, will thank 
the Lord Jesus for helping him, and for 
that saying that we are told of him, 
that " He pleased not himself." 

And every boy or girl that has strug- 
gled hard to resist temptation and to be 
good, will have the best company in the 
world, the holy children that you have 
read about in your Sunday-school lessons, 
and all brave and warm-hearted boys and 
girls since the world began, some of 
them kings like Josiah, some of them in 
all trades and places, and girls, rich and 
poor, but all of them sweet and unself- 
ish. Heaven is a place where good 
deeds are remembered. That makes 
heaven on earth, to lay up kind acts, 
and to be like Christ. Every day you 
can do something pleasant or helpful. 
Each day is like a little garden spot. 
You can plant seeds in it that will grow 
and bring forth fair flowers and fruits 
by and by. You can't afford to lose one 
of them. These summer days seem long 
to you. Do n't let them slip away self- 



102 MAKING COLLECTIONS 

ishly. Do something kind and good and 
Christ-like, and it will be precious in 
time to come. 

I have mentioned three things that you 
must begin to lay up in youth, — things 
worth remembering, things worth keep- 
ing, things worth doing. But listen a 
few minutes longer and I will tell you 
how to do this. Seek the Lord first. 
A good man has said, " God has a large 
family, but not one of his children can 
walk alone." He is ready to help us all. 
Paul said he could do anything if Christ 
would only help him. Nobody need be 
ashamed to have Christ for a helper, for 
he does n't do our work for us, only 
gives us strength and courage. He goes 
ahead of us. 

You know when people climb moun- 
tains they often take a guide who knows 
the way. He does not climb the moun- 
tain for them, but he shows them where 
to go ; sometimes he puts a rope round 
the waist of his followers, so that if they 
slip they won't go over the precipice. 
That's the way Christ puts his cords of 
love about us. He shows the way, and 



MAKING COLLECTIONS 103 

helps us up when we fall. Seek the 
Lord first, that's the way to be strong. 
Begin right off. Josiah began when he 
was still young. He did n't wait till he 
was grown up. He didn't wait till bad 
men got around him. 

Some children say, u I mean to be a 
Christian when I am old enough." How 
old is that? Just as old as you are now. 
Christ loves you now. He has put in 
your heart a compass to steer by. He 
treats every boy and girl like a little 
ship, which needs a compass, and that is 
your conscience, and says, follow that and 
give your heart to God, and begin right 
off. If you do n't begin, you are wasting 
time. Begin now. If you didn't go to 
school till you were ten years old, and 
didn't have anybody to teach you, you 
would be behindhand. If you didn't go 
till you w r ere fifteen, and had n't learned 
-your letters, you would be ashamed. 
Begin early and you can learn more and 
more. Somebody says that every man 
counts one, but a boy is a multiplication 
table. Boys and girls ought to be multi- 
plication tables, growing fast in good 



104 MAKING COLLECTIONS 

things. Youth is the growing time. 
Children grow more before they are six- 
teen than in all their life beside. Begin 
early- Christ loves the young. You can- 
not be too young to serve God. 

Lay up things that will last. Charac- 
ter is the most important thing in the 
world. It goes with us everywhere. I 
have spoken to you about laying up 
things. It is the law of nature and the 
law of God. If we lay up things rightly, 
we may resemble God. What a glorious 
thought, that we may resemble God ! He 
is always laying up in store for us. He 
gathers the rain in rivers and lakes, that 
we may have water for all our needs. 
He lays up ice for us in the winter for 
our comfort in the heat. He lays iip 
coal in the mines, to keep us warm 
through the winter, and iron to make all 
the tools in the world, and so of a 
thousand things. He is always laying up 
for us. We can resemble God by laying 
up things that will last. 

And we can make things last only by 
putting them to a good use. Jesus 
says, " Lay up your treasure in heaven," 



MAKING COLLECTIONS 105 

by which he means, lay up knowledge, 
lay up virtue, lay up kind deeds and 
good thoughts, and they will go with 
you, for they cannot die. 

A bad man does n't own anything. He 
may have money and clothes, and furni- 
ture and carriages, but he cannot keep any 
of them ; while the man who has a good 
character takes it with him. All good 
things are his. He loves all pleasant 
sights ; he loves his friends and makes 
friends everywhere. Above all, his heart 
is set on pleasing Christ, and nothing can 
separate him from that. 

Jesus says, " The meek shall inherit 
the earth." They shall have all the true 
joy that this earth can give, the joy of 
life and action, the joy of work and 
play, the joy of loving and making 
others happy, and being like Christ. 

And Paul saj^s, "All things are yours; 

whether .... life, or death, or things 

present, or things to come ; all are yours ; 

and ye are Christ's ; and Christ is God's." 

7 



The Piety of a Child 

The piety of Jesus is a model for 
other children. Jesus came into the world 
not merely to save grown-up people, but 
to open the way for all children to 
become like him. I believe there is a 
great deal of piety among children ; per- 
haps the best and the most of it, for 
there is certainly less of sin among them 
and less of pretense, while on the other 
hand a great proportion of the piety of 
older people had its roots in childhood. 
The flower and the blossom were there, 
from which has come in later years the 
full fruit. 

What is the piety of a child? I will 
try to tell you so that all may under- 
stand what I mean. The piety of a child 
is not wholly different from the piety of 
a man, and yet there are some simple 
things that belong to the child especially. 
The great thing is to believe in the love 

of God. The child should be taught that 

1 06 



THE PIETY OF A CHILD 107 

God is the Father of us all ; that He 
loves us, provides for us, keeps us by- 
night and by day; that he is ever near 
us ; that he is both able and willing to 
do all things for our welfare. The natu- 
ral fears of a child may be turned to 
account by the thought that God protects 
us. I believe it is very important to 
teach a child courage. Nothing can be 
worse than those habits of nurses or 
thoughtless people to scare children by 
strange stories or to allow them to think 
there may be danger in the darkness or 
the thunder storm. There is enough 
of timidity in the native disposition, 
implanted there for caution but not for 
cowardice. It is said that a life injury 
may be done by exaggerating the fears 
of children, while the best thing to over- 
come them is the feeling of God's love, 
— his desire for our happiness, — his mak- 
ing all things for our good. In every gift 
we should remember the source. 

There is no verse better for a child 
to learn than this: "Every good gift 
and every perfect gift is from above, 
and cometh down from the Father of 



108 THE PIETY OF A CHILD 

lights." This love of God goes before 
us. It cradled us in our infancy. It 
made the world and the heaven and 
the earth for us. It fitted up our 
home, long before we came into it. It 
trained our parents and brothers and 
sisters, and put the love into their 
hearts that makes home happy. This 
love goes before us. It does n't wait 
for us to deserve it. It does n't stop 
because we forget it. It doesn't grow 
cold when we are troublesome and disa- 
greeable. Even when the child does 
many wrong and foolish things, God's 
love still waits to forgive and help. Now 
I think that we sometimes mistake here, 
in urging the other side first. We tell 
the child that he ought to love God, or 
we put the words into his mouth, "I 
love God," "I love Jesus," rather than to 
remember the far greater thing that God 
loves us. The teaching of the Bible is 
wiser than that. Jesus takes little children 
in his arms and blesses them, and says, 
"Of such is the kingdom of heaven," 
"We love him, because he first loved 
us." It is of no great consequence to 



THE PIETY OF A CHILD IO9 

say good things about ourselves. Indeed, 
it is dangerous to put much stress on 
outward expressions. John says, "If a 
man love not his brother whom he hath 
seen, how can he love God whom he 
hath not seen?" It is a great deal more 
important to teach a child to love his 
brother and sister and be kind to them 
than to say, I love God. Let us have 
honesty first of all. Children, on the 
whole, are inclined to tell the truth. 
They are simple and have no artifice. 
We do them harm when we put words 
into their mouths that are insincere. 
Spiritual truth lies at the foundation of 
all. To be able to state a thing exactly 
and fairly is the basis of all science. To 
have a child know what he sees and 
know what he hears, and be able to 
describe it accurately, — that is something 
even more than honesty ; it is candor ; 
it is clearness of mind; it is the begin- 
ning of all philosophy. 

Two little fellows come into the house 
some day, their faces Hushed and angry ; 
they have had a quarrel. "Now then," 
says their mother, "what is it?" and 



IIO THE PIETY OF A CHILD 

they both begin to talk at once. " But 
you must n't talk together," she says. 
"Let one tell his story first, and the 
other afterwards. Wait a minute ; let 's 
play we 're having a court, and I 'm the 
judge and you 're the witnesses. Now 
let each tell his story. What did you 
do yourself? Think a moment. Is that 
exactly what you did?" The truth will 
come out with a moment's patience ; these 
little fellows cannot keep it back. And 
here is the foundation of piety and of all 
good character. The great point is, how 
to get at the truth and to teach a child 
how to see it and love it. 

Out of this comes repentance: "Father, 
I have sinned." There arises the desire 
to do what is right, because truth and 
right are almost the same thing. A 
right line is a straight line. A straight 
story is a true story. And when chil- 
dren see the truth and are willing to own 
it, they feel sorry for what is wrong, 
and they want to do better. 

I do not mean that all this is natural 
religion, which needs no teaching and no 
divine help. The great point is what is 



^ 



THE PIETY OF A CHILD III 

said about Jesus, "And the child grew, 
and waxed strong in spirit, filled with 
wisdom : and the grace of God was upon 
him." Is not Jesus willing to bestow his 
grace upon your children? If the Holy 
Spirit dwells in your hearts and homes, 
if children see that you depend on God, 
that you feel as if every good thought 
and impulse come from Christ, they will 
breathe in the influence. There is often 
a deep earnestness about children. They 
are merry and bright, to be sure, but 
they are not half so trifling as some 
grown people. They are not strangers 
to pure and lofty thoughts. Let them 
know that you depend on God, not only 
for health and food and all common 
things, but that you want his blessing 
and his love, just as you want the sun- 
shine, and they will imbibe that faith 
which is the keynote of religion. 

This, then, is a child's piety : To know 
that God loves him, and then always to 
see the truth and to tell the truth. You 
cannot tell the truth if you do not see 
it, and people get their eyes blinded and 
their thoughts and feelings twisted so that 



112 THE PIETY OF A CHILD 

they do not see what is right. It is a 
great thing to begin, early to see things 
as they are. Hence will come confes- 
sion and repentance, and a desire to do 
better. Hence will come the sense of 
need, and forgiveness and love to others. 
And through this circle we shall come 
round again to the great thought that 
God loves us, and if we let his grace 
into our hearts, we cannot help answering 
back, "We love him, because he first 
loved us." 

Having thus presented in brief what is 
the piety of a child, I am going to try 
to show you how it grows and ripens. 
You know a vine needs something to 
grow upon. Piety is like a vine. It 
needs to be trained and helped. First of 
all, we want the grace of God as Jesus 
had it, to plant the vine ; then it -needs 
something to grow upon. I mention 
three things. One of them is prayer. 
Prayer comes easy to a child. He is 
accustomed to ask. He asks before he 
can talk, that is, he cries for things, 
and that is a sort of asking. He believes 
his father and mother can do almost 



THE PIETY OF A CHILD 113 

everything, and it is easy to pass from 
that to the thought that God is the real 
source of blessing. The very transition 
from the day to the night is a lesson of 
prayer. All pains and weaknesses teach 
us to call upon God. All sins even, if 
we honestly own them, drive us to his 
heart. The prodigal son did n't even say 
he was sorry, though no doubt he felt so. 
He only got as far as to say, "Father, I 
have sinned." So the little child comes to 
the mother and says, "I did a wicked 
thing. I want to be forgiven." Thus we 
learn prayer, and thus we climb up to God, 
just as the vine climbs up on a lattice or 
on the side of a house or tree. 

The vine that is left on the ground 
gets trampled, eaten of worms, its leaves 
all soiled and begrimed. It may be 
alive, but it is no place for nice grapes 
to grow or to flower in dirt. The Bible 
compares Israel to a wild vine. He 
bringeth forth fruit unto himself. There 's 
a good deal of that kind of piety. It 
may possibly be alive, but where prayer 
is neglected — prayer in the morning or 
evening — with the family, in the company 



114 THE PIETY 0F A CHILD 

of Christians, that piety cannot grow. It 
is in danger of being destroyed. It is 
a kind of bramble-bush piety, that peo- 
ple trip up on when they go across the 
meadow, or that is trodden by cattle. 
The child's piety ought to grow up into 
clearer air, where all our wishes are brought 
to God. 

And another part of the lattice is the 
Bible. It is our support and our strength. 
We must learn to read it while we are 
young. I do not say that every child will 
like it. Some children do not like books 
anyway. They do not like to read. Well, 
be honest about it. Do not boast how 
much you love the Bible. But since 
everybody knows that it is the best and 
greatest of all books, try to climb up to 
it. I do not call the Bible an easy book. 
Easy books that require no thinking, are 
not good for much. It is a little hard 
at first, but boys love to climb, and girls, 
too. There are too many easy books. 
Learn to read something that is not so 
easy. Every child ought to acquire the 
habit of reading a portion of the Bible 
every day. I thank God that I was 



THE PIETY OF A CHILD 115 

taught to read the Bible in my youth. 
In a little while it became second nature 
to me. I wasn't happy if I had not read 
my Bible in the morning. I would not 
give up what I learned of it before I was 
fourteen years old for all I have learned 
since. I have whole shelves of learned 
books about the Bible, scores and hun- 
dreds of commentaries. I would give 
them all away sooner than forget what 
I learned when I was a child. Climb 
up on that lattice. You will see better 
things than can be learned in play or 
even in work. You will find things to 
think of and to strengthen you all the 
days of your life. 

And one thing more to help us is the 
Sabbath. The Sabbath is one of the 
greatest helps to a good life. It rests 
the body and the soul. It makes us 
remember that we belong to God, and 
that we belong to each other, too, be- 
cause it brings us together as God's fam- 
ily, to worship and to say "Our Father." 
Now I do not think it is always natural 
and easy to love the Sabbath, any more 
than it is to love the Bible. You must 



Il6 THE PIETY OF A CHILD 

deny yourselves in order to do it. And 
I do not think that we ought to make 
the Sabbath pleasant by forgetting what 
day it is. It is not a day of amusement 
or frolic. Even the child should early 
be taught to make a difference. And 
the services of the day ought to be so 
arranged as to give sufficient employment. 
To go to church in the morning should 
be a regular thing. Even if it is a re- 
straint and sometimes a little wearisome, 
it is much happier even to the child 
than staying at home. There is a beauty 
in restraint. A child without any restraint 
is miserable. Some tone of reverence is 
caught, some pleasure in singing and 
reading, some thought, even, that will be 
remembered in after years. 

The Sunday-school affords a more mani- 
fest delight to the very young, and thus, 
with a little attention at home, the day 
is filled up with good things. We need 
not repress the prattle of little ones, nor 
chide their natural activity and restless- 
ness, which must have some vent. But 
a partial restraint is to be put upon the 
Sabbath, as a day for higher thoughts 



THE PIETY OF A CHILD 117 

and gentler behavior. Some self-denial 
is necessary to all religion. The Lord's 
day will not be a delight without the 
ruling ideas of praise and worship. To 
give up rude plays and noisy idleness 
may seem a little hard to some. Our 
higher nature is not educated without 
effort. But by and by the value of the 
Sabbath will come out, just as of all 
things good. If it costs something, it 
will be worth something. 

I say, then, that these are the ladders 
on which children's piety grows, — prayer, 
the Bible, the Sabbath, trying to make 
others happy, giving up something for 
parents and brothers and sisters and 
friends. So the soul gets up toward 
heaven. The child does not grow in 
grace by always doing just what he has 
a mind to. The boy who cannot govern 
himself, who never does anything but 
what seems amusing, will never amount 
to much. We want habits of self-denial, 
of pleasing God and learning good things, 
by which we may grow strong. 

If you have the grace of God in your 
heart and believe that you are forgiven 



Il8 THE PIETY OF A CHILD 

through Christ, still your piety needs some- 
thing to grow on — prayer, the Bible, the 
Sabbath, self-denial, doing good to others 
for Christ's sake. 

And now some one will ask me, " But 
do n't you think a child ought to be con- 
verted?" I think every child needs the 
grace of God in his heart. No one 
believes more solemnly than I do in the 
truth that God must give us a clean 
heart, and put a right spirit within us. 
But conversion, as a marked or conscious 
change, the child does not know much 
about. The Bible never says a child must 
be converted. It says that men must be 
converted and become like little children, 
not "that little children must be converted 
and become like grown folks." The Bible 
never says a word about Joseph's being 
converted, nor Samuel, nor Daniel and 
his companions, nor Timothy, nor John 
the Baptist. The grace of God was with 
them. Your children may have the grace 
of God, if you and they will ask it 
together. I do not believe that a child is 
good and holy by nature, but I believe, 
with all my soul, that many open their 



THE PIETY OF A CHILD 119 

hearts to the grace of God very young. 
They are sanctified, like John the Baptist, 
from their birth. I believe if we did not 
offend and discourage little children, there 
would be a great many more growing up 
into true piety. 

I believe, then, that children may be 
Christ's own friends very young. We 
ought to encourage it, not by way of a 
sudden and extraordinary change, not by 
making them say that they love Jesus, 
but by asking the grace of God and 
trusting him to help them in every good 
word and work. I believe this is conver- 
sion, though the child does not know the 
meaning of the word. Mrs. Harriet 
Beecher Stowe has written an account of 
her early life. She tells of a certain Sun- 
day when she went to church and her 
father preached what he called one of his 
" frame" sermons, not a wooden frame, 
but a spiritual frame, where he left all con- 
tested questions and let the spirit of devo- 
tion rule, and taking the text, " Henceforth 
I call you not servants . . . but I have 
called you friends," tried to show Jesus 
as a soul friend offered to every human 



120 THE PIETY OF A CHILD 

being. She thought within herself, "That 
is just what I want." But then she remem- 
bered hearing that people ought to have 
conviction of sin. She did n't know what 
it meant exactly. But again she thought, 
"If I need conviction of sin, Jesus can 
do that for me, too." So after church she 
went to her father and said, " Father, I 
have given myself to Jesus, and he 's 
taken me for a friend." He took her in 
his arms, while his face beamed on her 
like the sun breaking out on a landscape. 
"Is it so, my child?" said he. "Then 
has a new flower blossomed this day in 
the kingdom of God." Here, then, is 
what the child wants to know, that Jesus 
can do everything for him, and that he 
is willing to be his friend and a true 
friend always. 

Never think for a moment that we can 
get along without God's grace. He only 
can make our hearts right. We must ask 
him to do it, but we should not search 
too closely how he does it. " Consider 
the lilies how they grow." Who ever saw 
the seed sprout, or the first opening of 
the seed under the soil? Look at the 



THE PIETY OF A CHILD 121 

trees and flowering shrubs all about us in 
this glad season. You know that they are 
growing, but who was there when they 
started? I tell you, God was there. And 
so God is in the heart of a little child 
when he trusts him. Do any of you 
think this is new doctrine? I tell you, it 
is as old as the Lord Jesus Christ, when 
he said, "Of such is the kingdom of 
heaven." 

I was reading the other day some words 
of Richard Baxter, an old Puritan of two 
hundred and fifty years ago, author of 
"The Saint's Rest," "The Call to the 
Unconverted," and many other devout 
books. And he says, "As large experi- 
ence as I have had in my ministry of 
the state of souls, and the way of con- 
version, I have met with very few who 
say they knew the exact time when they 
were converted. Even in those cases, I 
thought they were probably mistaken. I 
was once in a meeting of Christians 
eminent for zeal and holiness, some min- 
isters, others at this day famous, and it 
was desired that every one should tell 
the manner of his conversion, and but 



122 THE PIETY OF A CHILD 

one could conjecture the time, and it 
seemed to me that most of them had the 
experience of Samuel, — 'When he was a 
child, the Lord loved him.' If your chil- 
dren can only find out that the Lord 
loves them and put themselves under his 
guidance, they will share the life divine." 

Child piety is not grown up piety. It 
is not stiff and constrained. It loves play. 
It is frolicsome. It cannot endure long ser- 
vices. Above all, it should not be looked 
on with suspicion. Because your child is 
passionate or fretful or disobedient, do you 
say, "He isn't my child"? And do you 
suppose Christ drives away little children 
every time they do wrong? No, he is 
ready to rebuke them, but to do it ten- 
derly, and help them to do better. 

And young people look suspiciously on 
one another sometimes and say, ""You 
can't be a Christian, because you get 
vexed or say rude things, or laugh when 
you ought to be serious." This is not 
the best way to criticise one another or to 
teach our children to do it. It is a hard 
struggle for any of us to do right. There 
sleeps in every child's heart a whole flock 



THE PIETY OF A CHILD 1 23 

of wild birds— -tempers, desires, appetites. 
Some little accident wakes them up and 
sets them flying. Jesus came to soothe 
these passions and help us govern them. 
That little boy may be trying very hard. 
He has a hard load to carry ; do n't push 
him and sneer at him and make it harder, 
but give him a friendly word and a hope- 
ful smile. Do not forget that Christ loves 
him even as he loved Peter with all his 
faults. 

Children's piety is the hope of the 
church. It is the very salt that saves the 
world. I sometimes think it is worth more 
than all beside. At any rate, Jesus praised 
it more than any other. 

We must have this piety, in the home, 
in the chapel, in the church. It is worth 
more to your family than money or health, 
or the best furniture and clothes. Grow 
up with them into a Christian life. Ex- 
pect to see the grace of God upon them, 
and to see them acting like friends of 
Christ all the time. Do not wait for some 
extraordinary event, or imagine that Christ 
wants grown-up recruits, and will not have 
any other. If you have made that mis- 



124 THE PIETY OE A CHILD 

take and put off too long the lessons of 
sympathy, try to make up for the past 
with a new hopefulness and zeal. 

Dear children, remember that you can- 
not lose the friendship of Christ without 
your own fault. He died to save you all. 
It is your birthright. Do not sell it for a 
trifle. Do not let the days slip by and say: 
4 'I'll have a good time first. I'll wait 
till I'm grown up. Religion is for grown 
folks, not for me." That is the mistake 
which ruins many lives, which gets you 
into habits of forgetfulness and indifference, 
that cannot be shaken off. Now is the 
time for Jesus' friendship. Bring him the 
freshest flowers. Bring him the morning 
dew. He will save you from a thousand 
sorrows and shames, and give you a life 
worth living. 



Clothes that Never Wear Out 

When the Israelites came out of Egypt, 
they were kept back forty years in the 
wilderness because they disobeyed God and 
were not yet ready to go into the prom- 
ised land. There they wandered forty 
years, and God took care of them. They 
wanted nothing. He fed them with manna 
and provided for all their wants. We 
are even told that -their clothes and their 
shoes did not wear out for forty years. 
Now what do you suppose that means? 
Some Jewish rabbis said that it was a 
continual miracle, so that the little child, 
with a foot no longer than my finger, 
never needed a change of shoes, but as 
he grew his shoes grew larger, and his 
clothes fitted him just as well when he 
was twelve years old as when he was six. 
That would be very convenient, would n't 
it? I think some mothers would like to 
have their boys' clothes grow in that way, 

so that last year's trousers would be just 

125 



126 CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 

as good and just as much longer as the 
children are taller. That is the way 
the Jewish scribes explained it. I do not 
think it is just the right way, but I am 
sure that it means that God provided for 
them, as we read in another place, so 
that they lacked for nothing. They did 
not have to enter into Canaan like a set 
of ragged beggars, but they had clothes 
and shoes that were not all worn out. 
If your shoes and your clothes do not 
last always, there are other things which 
God gives us that never wear out. And 
that is what I am going to talk to you 
about this morning : things which God 
gives us that never wear out. 

Useful lessons never wear out. What 
we learn in youth is more easily remem- 
bered than what we learn afterwards. A 
child learns a great deal before he goes 
to school. He learns to talk, and that 
is really a wonderful thing, for our lan- 
guage contains a great multitude of words. 
To be sure, we do not use all that there 
are in the dictionary, but there are sev- 
eral hundred that we use every day ot 
our lives, and girls and boys pick them 



CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 1 27 

up almost as fast as they would pick cher- 
ries off a tree. 

We think it a wonderful thing if a par- 
rot can learn half a dozen words. I know 
a sick lady who has a parrot, and when 
she is awake in the night and feels lonely 
she says, "Polly, are you awake?" and 
Polly says, " Yes." But children learn 
whole sentences and poems and understand 
them, too. 

There is a great deal to learn in the 
use of hands and feet and eyes and ears. 
The little child is taught to fold his hands 
together and to kneel down and to close 
his eyes when he prays, and that puts 
into his mind the thought of an invisible 
God, one who is present, though we cannot 
see him, to whom the darkness and the 
light are both alike. Every kind of 
knowledge is useful ; to know one tree 
from another, to know one bird from 
another. I have a little friend in Massa- 
chusetts, not more than eleven years old, 
who can tell the name of nearly every 
bird that ever comes to New England. 
He knows not only how they look, but 
how they fly, and what sort of nests they 



128 CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 

build. Rev. James Wilson, pastor of this 
church, who came to this country a hun- 
dred years ago this year, was very fond 
of birds and flowers. Almost the first 
thing he noticed when he landed in Amer- 
ica was the song of the whippoorwill. 
You know how clear the notes come out, 
" whip-poor-will." 

It is a great thing to have one's eyes 
and ears open, if you can only see and 
hear useful things and have the right 
thoughts about them. I am glad the chil- 
dren plant trees in the park. It ought to 
teach them the names of trees. I have 
heard of one class that did not know what 
their tree was, and some called it one 
thing and some called it another. I hope 
that this summer you will learn much 
from the works of God's hands. 

But there are many things to learn from 
books. The studies that you have at 
school will be worth a great deal to you 
in your after life. You may not see the 
meaning or worth of them now, but you 
will find it by and by. Do not be in a 
hurry to get out of school or to give up 
study. Some children are always saying, 






CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 1 29 

" I don't see the use of this," but by and 
by they will suffer for their ignorance and 
impatience. The things learned by hard 
labor remain with us, and it is a great 
pleasure in after years to remember the 
struggle we had with them. 

Then, again, the maxims we learn in 
youth stay by us. Do you know what a 
maxim is? Why, it is a short rule, telling 
us how to work. If you know the rule in 
arithmetic you can do a great many prob- 
lems. We want good rules for life. The 
Saviour laid down the best maxim of all, 
— the Golden Rule — to do as you would be 
done by. There is another maxim in the 
latter part of the New Testament, " Confess 
your faults one to another." " Own up," 
as we say in common language, when you 
make a mistake ; do not stick to it for the 
sake of pride. Every one needs rules of 
life ; you cannot build a good character 
without them any more than you can build 
a house without a plan. The carpenter 
carries a foot rule or a two-foot rule to 
use all the time. 

We want rules that will stay by us. We 
want good tastes and love of good things. 



130 CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 

Knowledge of the Bible that we get in 
youth is most precious. You think it a 
little tedious to read a chapter, or a part of 
one, every day, but there is nothing that 
will help you so much or stay by you so 
long. The stories that are seen in New 
England papers, the funny anecdotes that 
amuse us for a while, do us little, if any, 
good. It is the things that are really sub- 
stantial and thoughtful that benefit our 
lives. It is better for children to have 
books that are above them, rather than 
those that are silly and weak. The minds 
of children are often more mature than we 
think, and they will soon grow to like 
better things if they are encouraged to do 
so. Foolish and weak stories are no better 
for the mind than candy is for the stom- 
ach. 

When I was seven years old, a very 
dear friend, now dead, gave me fourteen 
volumes of valuable books. I do not sup- 
pose that he thought I should read them 
then, but he gave them to me because 
he was going away to a distant place. 
They were books far above me. In fact, 
there was only one that I read for a long 



CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 131 

time, and that was " Pilgrim's Progress." 
The others were such books as the life 
of the missionary, Henry Martyn, and of 
that devoted friend of the Indians, David 
Brainerd. I used to look at those books 
with a sort of awe and reverence. My 
name and the name of the giver were 
handsomely written on the fly-leaf, and I 
felt I had a great treasure, though I 
could n't understand its value. But that 
gift has always had a great effect upon 
me, and I have the books still, where I 
see them every day. I often take them 
down to refer to them. How thankful I 
am that my friend gave me something 
that would keep ! 

I suppose at the time I should have 
been more pleased with playthings or with 
" Mother Goose." But here were things 
that would not wear out. Remember that, 
when you give presents to children. The 
impressions of early life are strong. 
Books are sacred things to me ; first of 
all, the Bible, God's book. I was taught 
to handle it with care and not to pile 
other books or common things on it. 
And I dislike to see any one do so now. 



132 CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 

All good books have a kind of sacred- 
ness. Whatever can teach us useful 
knowledge, or cheer or warm the heart 
with love to God or man, — these things 
are precious. The things which we learn 
first, if they are right things, do not wear 
out, but last forever. 

Another class of things that do not 
wear out is good habits. Habits are a 
kind of clothes. That is what the word 
means. It is very common in old Eng- 
lish. Sometimes we use the word in that 
sense now. When a lady rides on horse- 
back, she wears what is called a 
" habit." But usually when we say habits, 
we mean customs or the way people have 
of doing things. The habits we form 
early do not wear out. It is a great 
thing to have a habit of promptness. One 
of the best things about going to "school 
is the rule of being there in time. The 
school begins at just such an hour. If you 
are not there at the time, you are late. 
Five minutes late, one minute late, half 
a minute, they are all late. I wish peo- 
ple would remember that in coming to 
church. If any of you children are 



CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 133 

behindhand Sunday mornings and try to 
persuade your father and mother that it 
is no consequence when they get here, 
I hope you will remember that it is just 
as important to be at church in time as 
it is to be in school, and that marks are 
not everything. 

There are many other good habits to 
be learned in youth ; one is neatness. 
David asks, " Who shall ascend into the 
hill of the Lord or who shall stand in 
his holy place? He that hath clean 
hands, and a pure heart." Clean hands 
and a pure heart ought to go together. 
Neatness is essential to self-respect. So 
is patience. We must be willing to take 
time to have things in order and to 
remember that God is not the author of 
confusion, but of peace. 

I have several times been at the State 
Home and School, where poor children, 
who have no parents to take care of 
them, live in pleasant cottages on a beaii- 
tiful farm. It is worth while to see how 
carefully they are taught to make their 
beds, and how nicely they arrange on 
their bureaus their little toys and pictures. 



134 CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 

" Order is heaven's first law," and some 
children who have a great many expen- 
sive things are not neat and orderly. 
This is a lesson for the whole of life. 
These are habits that will last. Get good 
habits while you are young. Do not say, 
"It is no matter." Do not fly round and 
turn everything topsyturvy. Lay your 
things away carefully and you will know 
where to find them. 

Another good habit is the habit of 
truth. Above all things, learn to speak 
the truth. You all know that the most 
shameful thing in the world is a lie. 
But a great many people who do not 
mean to tell a lie, do not tell the exact 
truth. We are very apt to be satisfied 
with coming somewhere near it, or with 
guessing at it, instead of hitting it 
exactly. 

Now one of the things you are sent to 
school for is to learn exactness. Sup- 
pose your teacher to-morrow morning 
should call you up and say, " How many 
are six times seven?" and you should 
answer, " Oh, it is about forty," probably 
he would be a little angry and say, " I 



CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 135 

wish to know just what it is." Then if 
he called the next one and said, " How 
many are nine times nine?" and he 
should say, " Oh, about eighty," your 
teacher would say, "What is the matter 
with this class? You will have to stay 
after school and learn not to answer in 
that way." The multiplication table is a 
pretty hard thing, but it must be con- 
quered; and after all, the greatest value 
of it is to learn to tell the exact truth 
and not to use that mischievous word 
" about." 

"About right" is never right. The 
Bible never tells us to do " about right." 
We often deceive ourselves in this way. 
We have our lessons about learned, or we 
have about finished our work, or told 
about what happened, instead of doing 
what we know to be just right. We 
are to come to Jesus just as we are. 
We need to have all our sins forgiven 
and not to excuse them. You remember 
the story of the woman who touched the 
hem of Jesus' garment, and afterwards, 
when he said, "Who touched me?" she 
came and fell at his feet and told him 



136 CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 

all the truth. That is the way to be 
saved. Come and tell Jesus all the truth, 
tell the truth to your father and mother. 
Learn to be true always. Get the habit 
of it now when you are young. Be a 
true Christian, a true friend, a true 
lover. 

" To thine own self be true, 
And it will follow, as the night the day, 
Thou canst not then be false to any man. 11 

Another thing that does not wear out is 
kind actions. They leave a pleasant feel- 
ing on the mind, and a pleasant look on 
the face. They make others happy, and 
diffuse an atmosphere of gladness all 
around. There never was any one who 
did so much to make people happy as 
Jesus did. He healed the sick. He 
made the blind see. He cheered the dis- 
ciples in a storm, and told them not to 
be afraid. He was often telling people 
in trouble not to be afraid. You ought 
to remember that, and when there is any 
danger, or when you find it hard to do 
right, he speaks to you, saying, "Be not 
afraid." We can be kind to the poor and 



CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 137 

sick, and kind to brother and sister and 
to our playmates, ready to help those 
who need it. The great Scotchman, 
Thomas Carlyle, when he was a child, 
saved in a teacup three bright ha'pence. 
But a poor old Shetland beggar with a 
bad arm came to the door one day, and 
Carlyle gave him all his treasure at once, 
and when he was an old man he used 
to say that the thrill of joy he felt then 
was worth more than all the money he 
had ever had since. Kind acts last, and 
they lead to others. 

See that boy with a grumpy face ; he 
is dissatisfied about something, and won't 
play or join the rest to make up a 
game. By and by, another one comes 
with a friendly look. He is ready to do 
anything ; he is willing to be it if the 
rest want him to. How quickly the order 
of things is changed ! And when that boy 
grows up and comes into the church, he 
will be willing to take his part ; he will 
not be always finding fault with others, 
but will do whatever will help along the 
cause. He will be willing to be it, if 

the church needs a deacon or collector or 

9 



138 CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 

some one to do a trying duty. I can tell 
you, kind actions pay. 

We all of us can do kind acts and 
speak kind words. Did you ever have a 
rough word spoken to you that made the 
tears start into your eyes? Then remem- 
ber how it feels, and be gentle with 
others. You know we had in the Sundav- 
school a little while ago, a lesson about 
the excellent woman. I dare say some of 
you thought it a queer lesson for chil- 
dren. But there is a great deal to think 
of in it, and one verse says, "In her 
tongue is the law of kindness." That is 
a beautiful verse. Some of us whose 
mothers have gone to be with Christ 
remember how gentle they were, not to 
us only but to other people, and what 
kind words they spoke to neighbors and 
friends. What a mighty thing the "tongue 
is ! It is safely enclosed by a row of 
teeth, like soldiers standing guard, and 
lips that we can hold tight and seal when 
we have a mind to, but how often the 
words slip by before we think — foolish 
words, angry words. We do not see 
people's tongues very often. The doctor 



CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 139 

comes and looks at them. I wish there 
were some doctor who could put the law 
of kindness into them. Yes; there is 
one, and that is the great physician, Jesus. 
He can teach us how to be gentle. 

I said we do not see people's tongues 
very often, but we feel them. Did you 
ever see the tongue of a snake? How 
he darts it out sometimes ! I have a very 
vivid image of the tongue of a snake, and 
yet the tongue of man does a great deal 
more harm. They say that in India twenty 
thousand people die every year from snake 
bites. That is a great many, but the 
tongue of man does more harm than that. 
It makes homes unhappy; it profanes the 
name of God, and leads to all manner 
of crime. When we think of the cruel 
and mean things that are said, we might 
almost wish that men had n't any tongues. 

But, blessed be God, there are kind 
things, too. There are songs of praise 
and holy Psalms that are repeated from 
age to age. The tongue is the glory of 
our frame. I do not think much of epi- 
taphs, but that would be a very sweet 
thing to put on a memorial stone, "In 



I40 CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 

her tongue was the law of kindness. " 
Kind actions last. They do not wear out. 
They make the world better. They con- 
quer evil. And that is the way we can 
show our gratitude to our Lord Jesus 
Christ. We owe him everything. You 
know he was hungry in the wilderness, 
and he was tired at the well, and he was 
thirsty on the cross, and the worst pains 
we ever had were nothing to his. How 
can we reward him? How can we show 
our gratitude? Just by being kind and 
loving. When others are tired or sick or 
in trouble of any sort, we can show our 
love to Christ by helping them. 

I dare say you have said a hundred 
times, many of us a thousand times, at 
the end of our prayers, "For Christ's 
sake." But what are you doing for 
Christ's sake? Here is a little errand 
for mother that keeps you from your 
play, or there is a self-denial for brother 
or sister, or here is a chance to hold 
back an ugly word when you are vexed 
and put a kind one in its place. Now, 
then, think you are doing it for Christ's 
sake. That is the way to be a Christian ; 



CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 141 

that is the way to have Christ living in 
you. And Christ will remember it, and 
you will remember it, in the kingdom of 
heaven. These kind actions will live for- 
ever. Our Saviour was willing to endure 
hardship, but he wanted love. He was 
always pleased when people did or said 
kind things to him, not for the thing 
itself, but for the love. Love lasts for- 
ever. That is what St. Paul says in 
the poem of love, the thirteenth chapter 
of I Corinthians. Prophecies shall fail, 
tongues shall cease, knowledge shall van- 
ish away, but love never faileth. 

These are some of the things, then, 
that last forever: Useful lessons, good 
habits, kind actions. Try to remember 
them. But how are we going to get 
them? Listen a minute or two more 
while I tell you. Get them from God. 
He is the giver of all good gifts. He 
fed the children of Israel with manna 
and provided clothes and shoes. You 
know their shoes were not like ours. 
They were sandals of wood, or, more 
likely, a piece of leather under the foot, 
fastened on with a leather string. And 



I42 CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 

their clothes were simple, made of wool 
or the skins of animals, and worn loosely, 
like a robe. They had plenty of flocks 
and herds, so that there was no trouble 
about getting these things. God did not 
make their clothes for them, but they 
were just as much his gift, and he pro- 
vided for them, so that they should not 
be in rags and tatters. They did not 
have to wear worn-out things. And God 
gives us better things than these, that 
will never wear out. Ask him to help 
you every day. That will be a good 
prayer for us all: "Lord, do not let my 
patience wear out, and do not let my 
temper be spoiled. Clothe me, dear Jesus, 
in thy righteousness." That will never 
wear out. Ask him for help every day, 
and he will give it. 

The story of God's taking care af his 
people in the wilderness is an old story, 
but the Saviour teaches just the same 
thing. The Bible is all one. God led 
the people in the desert, and their clothes 
and shoes did n't wear out. Well, Jesus 
says the same thing in the twelfth chap- 
ter of St. Luke at the thirty-third verse : 



CLO THES THA T NE VER WE A R OUT 1 43 

"Provide yourselves bags which wax not 
old." Where are you going to get those 
bags? Not at the stores, though they 
have so many things. But we can all 
have them. Indeed, we do have memo- 
ries and hearts, where we can keep good 
things that will never wear out. Obey- 
ing Jesus, and doing right things for his 
sake, will make us happy forever. They 
will be kept in the bags that wax not 
old, and be a treasure in the heavens 
that faileth not. 

Dear children, we are all traveling, like 
the Israelites, towards the promised land. 
A great many failed to get there because 
they were disobedient. None would have 
reached it at all if God had not provided 
for them. Shall we all reach the prom- 
ised land? Teachers and children, shall 
we all be there together? Christ wants 
us with him. He has room in his heart 
for every one of us, but we must be 
like him. And he wants to clothe us 
now with his robe of love. If } r ou do 
not have his robe of love, you will not 
be fit to be there. He wants us to be 
Christian soldiers. 



144 CLOTHES THAT NEVER WEAR OUT 

You know Paul tells us that the Chris- 
tian soldier should put on the whole 
armor of God. It covers head and breast 
and arms, and for sandals, the prepara- 
tion of the gospel of peace, and it puts 
a sword into our hand, — even the word 
of God, which is a better defense against 
temptation than any other sword. Will 
you have it all now? Will you ask 
God to provide for you, and to lead you 
all your life? May we all have this 
great blessing, every child and grown 
person of us all, that we may spend a 
happy eternity together in the presence 
of our Saviour ! Amen. 



Kindness to Animals 

One of the best things about living in 
the country is to become acquainted with 
animals and birds. To see how useful 
they are and to know their habits is a very 
good thing. We can learn something 
about them from books, but it is better to 
see them, and know how to take care of 
them, and to watch them in the barn or 
the field, — and best of all to love them 
and be kind to them. 

All the peaceful animals, the cow, the 
sheep, the deer, have from earliest ages 
been men's companions and provided them 
clothing and food. Shepherd life is the 
earliest of history. Abraham kept flocks 
and herds. Even now in China bullock 
carts are the common mode of traveling. 
In Russia, the reindeer drags the sledge 
swiftly over the snow. 

The reindeer will thrive on the moss 
which is found in the poorest soil. It is 
amazing on what scanty fare some animals 

145 



146 KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 

can live. The poorest squatters on the 
unoccupied fields in upper New York city- 
keep goats ; or, rather, we might say the 
goats keep themselves, for they can make 
a living where there seems to be nothing 
but ash heaps and tomato cans. 

The domestic animals are often subjected 
to much suffering. Not only is their food 
scanty but they are transported and driven 
from place to place, often enduring much 
distress. Think of the poor cattle and 
sheep jolted over the continent in box cars, 
standing crowded together, irregularly fed 
or half maddened with thirst, terrified by. 
the noises and the darkness of the tunnels, 
and the clouds of smoke, and trains of 
sparks. The loading and unloading are 
full of pain. There is nothing worse to 
man or beast than fright. Children know 
something of the feeling. In modern times 
we are more careful to guard children 
from terror. 

But think what is suffered by domestic 
animals. How they tremble in every limb! 
How they rush madly hither and thither 
for an escape ! Civilization has increased 
these cruelties. Jacob was so tender of his 



KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 147 

flocks that he told Esau, " If men should 
overdrive them one day, all the flock will 
die." Happily much of the suffering of 
animals carried on the railway is relieved 
by having the market supplied with meat 
ready dressed instead of the former habit 
of transporting the animals alive. Horses, 
too, are relieved of the strain and burden 
of drawing street-cars. 

Still, the horse has much to endure, 
both of toil and pain. Probably he has 
more diseases than any other animal, 
because of his unnatural life. I suppose 
the sufferings of the horse, more than any- 
thing else, have led to the establishment of 
societies for the prevention of cruelty to 
animals, and laws have been made to relieve 
them. Statutes provide against filthy and 
confined stables in cities, dangerous to 
human life, and against various forms of 
beating and tormenting. 

The foot of a horse is a curious member 
and the process of horseshoeing is often 
painful. Of course the horse must be shod 
if he is going over stone pavements. He 
needs shoes as much as a boy does and 
often a good deal more. Down on Cape 



I48 KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 

Cod, horses often go barefoot, because the 
light sandy soil is safe for them. It is fun 
to go barefoot. But boys and horses need 
shoes in most places and most of the year. 
Boys often have nails in their shoes and 
are proud of them, but how would you 
like to have nails driven into } r our heel? 
Horses have thick, horny hoofs, so that the 
nails will not hurt them if properly set. A 
good blacksmith is careful of the horse's 
foot, which is a wonderful and complex 
structure. A bad or cruel workman often 
cuts the hoof too close, which hurts like 
cutting your nail down to the quick. Then 
if the shoe is badly set, the horse becomes 
lame. Suppose you were put into a pair 
of stiff shoes, that pinched with every step, 
and you had to wear them day and night, 
you wouldn't be very proud of your new 
shoes, would you? The horse often has 
to suffer from bad shoeing, from hard driv- 
ing, from heat and cold, and from a gall- 
ing harness. 

It is not poor men chiefly that sin against 
the horse. His head is hauled up to an" 
unnatural height and kept there. The 
labor of going up hill is greatly in- 



KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 1 49 

creased. Did you know that a horse 
walks or runs by the help of his head? 
The weight of his head makes it much 
easier to move forward. His head ought 
to be free, or if a check is used for con- 
venience, it should be loose and removed 
on going up hill. In some places signs 
are put up, " Uncheck your horses while 
going up hill." I cannot say all I should 
like to about horses' heads, but let us go 
to the other end of the subject and speak 
of their tails. 

A horse's tail is an ornament and a 
protection. It disgusts me to see the little 
stumps of lacerated tails on horses driven 
by fashionable men and women. They 
make a show of their own cruelty by 
this practice, and the habit of clipping 
horses makes them liable to many diseases. 
I fear the same people would slit the ears 
of their horses if fashion approved it, as 
they do the ears of dogs. Queen Victoria 
has forbidden any of her dogs to be so 
treated. The tail of a horse is not hair 
only, any more than a whip is all lash. 
It is often cut off so close as not only to 
produce pain and disfigurement, but to 



150 KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 

prove a serious injury. And when the 
handsome horse gets old and can no longer 
please his owner by a rapid gait or showy 
action, he is sold off for a trifle, and put 
to the strain of hard work in an ash cart 
or an express wagon. Many a horse, if 
he could tell his story, would move our 
hearts with what he has had to suffer 
from youth to old age. I am thankful 
that we live in an age when attention is 
called to these things, and when our chil- 
dren learn the pity and tenderness that 
God would have us exercise toward our 
fellow creatures. I am thankful that we 
know something about it in this church 
and that one of our members has devoted 
a great deal of time and study to the 
literature of this subject and to arousing 
others to its importance. There are many 
charming books on animals, and science 
has studied deeply their nature and hab- 
its. They are our fellow creatures. The 
same God made and loves them and 
would have us love them, too. But chil- 
dren are sometimes cruel. Half in 
thoughtlessness and half in the love of 
power, they abuse their humble kindred. 



KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 151 

Boys, you know, love to try their strength. 
A boy is very proud when he can drive, 
and he likes to order round a dog, or 
even to stone a cat or a bird. A stray 
animal finds many enemies and but few 
friends. If you had lost your way in the 
city and could n't get any one to tell you 
where to go, and if when you came up 
beseechingly, hoping to find a friendly 
face, some bigger boy should kick you, 
and when you ran away throw stones 
after you, wouldn't you think it hard? 
Is n't it meaner so to treat a dog or cat 
which cannot speak? 

Birds, too, have a hard time. The 
caging of birds is a wearisome confine- 
ment. I know they are often well treated 
and happy, and it is pathetic to hear 
them sing so beautifully even in their 
narrow cages. But it is hardly a jubilant 
song; it sounds to me more like a strain 
of longing and tender complaint. Music 
itself has been pressed out of sorrow. It 
is said of the nightingale that "he sings 
with his breast against a thorn." That 
may be a fable, but there is always to 
me a sad appeal in the note of a caged 



152 KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 

bird, a tear in his voice, as of a pris- 
oner remembering his home, reminding 
one of the song of Rebecca in Ivanhoe. 

Paul and Silas sang praises in the 
prison, and the caged bird is a lesson of 
faith in God. I will not say it is wrong 
to keep birds in that way. Many are 
born so and never knew anything differ- 
ent and learn to love their human jailers 
and sometimes have the range of the 
house, but the same thing used to be said 
about slaves, and freedom is the cherished 
boon of everything that lives. 

Birds are cruelly treated in many ways ; 
they are shot for sport, and wantonly 
wounded. And there is a crying evil in 
making ornaments of their plumage, when 
it is torn from them roughly or the inno- 
cent birds are shot in nesting time, their 
little ones left to suffer, or if the mate of 
either escapes, going through an agony of 
terror and bereavement. Much has been 
said of these cruelties, and no doubt many 
tender-hearted women have worn these 
beautiful ornaments without thinking of the 
suffering they cost. I believe there is a 
reform in this respect, and I shall be glad 



KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 1 53 

to help it on. Though it is a dangerous 
thing to interfere with ladies' bonnets, I 
must confess that I like the flower-garden 
fashion much better than that of wearing 
the plumage of birds. A friend of mine 
made an address to children lately on the 
condition of the Indians, and illustrated 
their degradation by saying that they wore 
feathers on their heads. Perhaps it was 
a satire on the cruelty of those who make 
the poor birds suffer for their pride. 

I shall not dwell longer upon the cruel- 
ties practised on animals, but proceed, 
rather, to a pleasanter side of the sub- 
ject — the debt we owe them. In this age 
of machinery we forget how much civiliza- 
tion owes to dumb animals. They have 
been well called "workers without wage." 
They have toiled for us from the begin- 
ning of the world, and taken their pay 
more often in blows and ill treatment than 
anything else. They have ploughed our 
fields, and cleared the foundations and 
hauled stone for buildings. They have 
drawn heavy loads in city and country. 
They have cleared the land by dragging 
out roots and rocks half buried in the 



154 KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 

earth. Our New England never could 
have been settled without them. They 
opened the Western country. They were 
pioneers. In fact, we might say they 
helped to the discovery of large territo- 
ries. The frozen North has been made 
known to us by the reindeer and the dog. 
It is thought that Alaska never will be 
of much use to us unless the reindeer are 
multiplied. Animals have been a defense 
in war. In eastern countries, elephants 
were formed into line and marched or 
ran forward with resistless force to tread 
down the enemy. 

The horse has, in all ages, been the 
companion of man in battle. He has 
shared the pomp of war and the pride 
of victory. That is as old as the world, 
and yet true to this very day. One of 
the most magnificent passages in the Bible 
is the description of the horse in the book 
of Job. Carlyle says, " Such living like- 
nesses were never since drawn." 

Even to-day we measure everything by 
horse-power, thus confessing that horse- 
power has been one of the greatest forces 
by whir^ progress has been made. 



KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 155 

Do you know what a post-office is? All 
the children know that, but why do we 
call it a post-office? Because all letters 
or messages used to be sent by swift 
riders from one station or post to another, 
where horses stood saddled to carry the 
saddle-bags on to the next station. That 
was the way sixty years ago. Stage- 
coaches or riders on horseback carried 
everything, and that is why we say -post- 
haste and -postal card now. 

But when we speak of letters and 
messages, there is a bird that ought to 
have credit. Do you know what it is? 
You have all seen the bird a great many 
times. The dove or pigeon was the first 
post-office. Noah let the dove out of the 
ark, and she brought back the second 
time an olive leaf in her mouth, emblem 
of peace and hope, and that beautiful 
fact in the Bible led men to think of 
sending messages in that way, and so 
doves, who of all birds love their homes, 
were trained to be letter-carriers. They 
would be taken, at first, a few miles from 
home and let loose where they would 
easily find the way back ; gradually the 



156 KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 

distance was increased, until they would 
learn to find their way even eighty miles. 
When let loose, the dove would rise to a 
great height to get a bird's-eye view, as 
we call it, of the whole country, then 
she would swiftly wing her way home. 
Do you think that belongs only to past 
ages? So late as 1870, in the great war 
between France and Germany, the tele- 
graph wires were destroyed, the roads 
were blocked, and messages were sent — 
how do you think? They were sent by 
carrier-pigeons. The letters were written 
and then photographed on thin paper, in 
type so small that it could only be read 
with a microscope, and this paper was 
folded and put into a quill, and tied to 
the middle feather of the pigeon's tail, 
because that keeps still, while the other 
feathers are spread out. So the faithful 
bird would fly straight home, over hos- 
tile armies and besieged towns. One of 
these pigeons came, bringing news to 
Paris, and in its poor little body were 
found grains of shot, by which the 
sharpshooters had tried to kill her, but 



KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 157 

she escaped, and went bravely on to 
deliver her message. 

There are a great many things that I 
would like to tell the children about 
animals, but I want you to remember 
some lessons that we may learn from 
them. We ought to learn industry. The 
wise man says, "Go to the ant, thou slug- 
gard; consider her ways, and be wise." 
This little creature, whose brain is, Dar- 
win tells us, one quarter the size of a 
small pin's head, has sagacity more won- 
derful than that of an elephant. Indeed, 
the keenness, the curiosity, the imagina- 
tion and reason displayed are truly mar- 
velous. 

The bee is an emblem of industry. 
When we want our children to do some 
good and generous work, we call them 
"Busy Bees," and there are many other 
industrious animals. When a man is very 
industrious, we say he works like a 
beaver. 

The animals give us lessons of temper- 
ance. In their natural state they are 
healthy. They avoid things that are bad 
for them. Animals hate tobacco or liquor. 



158 KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 

Darwin tells us that monkeys can be 
taught to drink, but after being once 
made drunk, they despise it and refuse to 
drink again. The dog is a cold water 
animal. He ought always to have it at 
hand. The habits of animals are very 
regular. They like neatness as much as 
you do. Even the cow and the pig are 
better for being kept clean. A filthy sty 
or barn shows a dirty farmer. The ani- 
mals are temperate and love cold water. 
The little birds bathe in it with great 
delight. 

Another lesson is that of patience. The 
animals bear a great deal of hardship 
without complaint. They do not fret about 
heat or cold. They make themselves com- 
fortable on plain fare. They try their best 
to do the work required of them. The 
patient ox drags a heavy load. The horse 
is often ambitious to do the best he can. 
When kindly treated, he will make every 
effort, and even when the load is too 
great, he will tug and strain till he seems 
all exhausted. 

You sometimes hear people say, "Lazy 
as a dog." It is slander. A dog is active, 



KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 159 

and loves to run and hunt or work. We 
sometimes say that a man has dogged 
perseverance, that is, he sticks to his work 
and will not let go. I never knew what 
' s dogged " means till I spent some months 
in Germany. All the milk carts are drawn 
by dogs, and the poor fellows pull their 
loads from house to house, and are often 
so hard worked, that when the milkman 
stops they drop right down from sheer 
fatigue, but when he has done his errand, 
up springs the dog at the word, and 
struggles patiently on to the next place. 
And what will not the poor dog endure? 
Read the story of Nansen and of the mis- 
sionaries to Greenland — how the dogs pull 
the sledges over the frozen fields, and 
make the Esquimau's life endurable by 
their kindly companionship. 

And this leads one to speak of animals' 
affection. They love their offspring, and 
will even die for them. They often show 
much kindness to one another, and many 
of them are very fond of society. Ani- 
mals and birds are often attached to per- 
sons, but the dog is the most remarkable 
instance of affection for human beings. 



l6o KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 

Darwin says, "A dog is the only thing 
on earth that loves you more than he 
loves himself." The dog is no respecter 
of persons. He loves a poor man as 
much as he -would a prince. He is just 
as happy in a hut as he would be in a 
palace, provided he has love. It is a rather 
mean saying, that "When poverty comes 
in at the door love flies out of the win- 
dow," but it is not so with the dog. He 
loves on to the end. Landseer has painted 
the mourning of the shepherd's dog by his 
master's coffin, and sometimes he has been 
found stretched in death on his master's 
grave. It is a beautiful example of God's 
love manifested in the brute. A friend of 
mine had a favorite dog that was sick, 
and though they made every effort to save 
him nothing could be done. After he had 
lain insensible for some time, they tried to 
rouse him by strong salts held to his nose, 
but he never moved. At last his master 
gave the low whistle so familiar to happy 
days, and the poor creature opened his 
eyes, and looked one glance of love, and 
then died. 

Dr. Horace Bushnell, speaking of the 



KINDNESS TO ANIMALS l6l 

poor beggar in the parable who lay at the 
rich man's gate, says that when all others 
forsook him, he had two kinds of faithful 
friends, dogs and angels. The dogs com- 
forted his dying hours, and the angels 
bore him on their wings to heaven. 
Painting and poetry have drawn most 
beautiful scenes from animal life. Sir 
Walter Scott dearly loved dogs, cats, and 
horses. Not a great many of us think 
we understand all that Browning has writ- 
ten, but children and everybody else can 
enjoy "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," or the 
story of the gallant horse that brought 
good news to Ghent. And what would the 
Bible be without animals? What child is 
there who never loved to play with his 
Noah's ark? The most beautiful parable 
in the Old Testament is that of the poor 
man's ewe lamb, which lay in his bosom 
and was unto him as a daughter. And 
when our dear Saviour is brought nearest 
to us, what is he called? The lamb led 
to the slaughter, the lamb dumb before his 
shearer. Yes, and he is the lion, too, the 
lion of the tribe of Judah, strong and fear- 
ing nothing. He is the first born of every 



1 62 KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 

creature, that is, having all the glory and 
wisdom and beauty that shines upon every 
living thing, and the Holy Spirit, descend- 
ing like a dove, after his baptism, abode 
upon him. 

He is the Shepherd and we are his 
flock. Never call a sheep stupid. There is 
no stupid animal but man. God's care of 
us is shown in the care of the animals. 
If we lived simpler lives obedient to him, 
we should be far happier. 

One of the most remarkable poems in 
the English language, "The Ancient Mar- 
iner," has for its lesson the love of God's 
creatures. 

44 He prayeth best who loveth best 
All things both great and small, 
For the dear God who loveth us 
He made and loveth all." 

I am glad so much is done to make 
us more humane. Animals are a great 
blessing to us. We not only tame them, 
but they tame us and they make us gen- 
tler. Children are better for loving them. 
Even those we dread have some office to 
purify the earth and preserve the health 



KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 1 63 

of mankind. If any creatures large or 
small must be killed, it should be done 
mercifully, so as not to prolong their suf- 
ferings. And while they live we ought 
to treat them kindly. God loves them, 
and we should love them too. John Wes- 
ley said that if a man was a Chris- 
tian, his dog and cat would be the bet- 
ter for it. I am not sure that he meant 
that every Christian ought to keep a dog 
or cat, but if you do have a kitten, or a 
dog, or a goat, or a pony, mind you treat 
them kindly, do not abuse or spoil them. 

A cruel boy will grow hard-hearted. 
He will be cruel to his sisters and per- 
haps do cruel deeds when he grows up. 
God save us from cruelty in any form ! 
The dear Saviour was cradled in a 
manger. He walked among the sheep- 
folds. He heard the morning song of 
birds. He said the least of them was 
dear to his Father in heaven. Let us 
learn of him, that we may have the like 
tenderness, that we may never make our 
pleasure out of anything that brings 
unhappiness to the humblest of God's 
creatures. 



Parents' Gifts to Their Children 

Young minds are not capable of long- 
continued attention, but they do have many 
good and serious thoughts. The impres- 
sions made upon them are deep and abid- 
ing. The mind of childhood is serious 
and reverent, and does not need trifles nor 
foolish talk to interest it. I have often 
been surprised at the clearness with which 
even a young child would apprehend some 
thought or fact. And the memory at that 
age is sharp and retentive. Children were 
among our Saviour's auditors, and he no- 
ticed them and spoke of them and to 
them. His parables would attract them, 
while their meaning was deeper than the 
wisest apprehended. When he taught his 
disciples the Lord's Prayer, he went on 
to encourage them to ask often and ear- 
nestly, and to show them that God may 
be trusted to give us the best gifts. "Even 
parents," he said, " will not give a stone 

for bread, nor a serpent for a fish." 

164 



PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 1 65 

Some have sought a resemblance in the 
things here contrasted, giving the Sa- 
viour's words more point and emphasis. 
I do not know whether such resemblance 
is real, though there may be something 
in it. "If a son ask bread of any of 
you that is a father, will he give him a 
stone?" The Revised Version reads, "If 
a son shall ask a loaf." The bread of the 
Hebrews was baked in round cakes, not 
unlike flat stones in shape and appear- 
ance. There may have been, therefore, 
a peculiar vividness in the Saviour's 
question, "Will he give him a stone?" 

Again he says, " Or if he ask a fish 
will he give him a serpent?" There is one 
species of fish known all over the world 
that is very like a serpent, and that is 
an eel. The boys and girls, too, know 
what an eel is. Even the natural history 
books admit that the eel is a sort of con- 
necting link between the fish and serpent 
tribes. Yet the inner structure is very dif- 
ferent, and no one would think of taking 
a serpent for food. 

Luke gives a third simile not mentioned 
in Matthew, <>' If he shall ask an egg, will 



1 66 PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 

he offer him a scorpion?" A scorpion is a 
frightful creature of the spider tribe, with 
claws and a long tail, in which is a dan- 
gerous sting. It would seem very unlike 
an egg. In fact, the black scorpion is 
utterly unlike an egg in every way, yet 
Biblical writers say that there is a white 
scorpion which folds his tail about him 
and rolls up so closely that he may look 
not unlike a small egg- 

I am not sure about these resemblances, 
but I am sure about the contrasts. Would 
a father give his child a scorpion for an 
egg, or a serpent for a fish, or a stone 
when he asked for bread? Our dear Lord 
fastened the truth on his hearers, old and 
young, with words that could not be for- 
gotten. He shows that God would never 
deny good gifts to earnest prayer, and 
yet I see a secondary teaching in. these 
words, to which I wish to call your atten- 
tion. 

Leaving the great subject of prayer 
which our Saviour made prominent, let 
us take a thought suggested to us by our 
relation as parents and children. Let us 
consider the gifts that parents bestow. 



PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 1 67 

Our gifts are both voluntary and involun- 
tary ; that is, some we wish to give, and 
some we cannot help giving. Perhaps 
the latter are the more important of the 
two. They begin earlier; they are more 
continuous. What we can give our chil- 
dren depends on what we are. If we 
have a strong and healthy body, a calm 
mind, physical habits of virtue and sobri- 
ety, these things will be apt to descend to 
the children. The law of heredity is an 
important one, which scientific men have 
studied and followed out in many lines, 
but which is true in history and common 
life. Every one of us can tell something 
about it. We know what has come to 
us from the past, and we see about us 
daily the family likeness of children to 
parents, and their habits of speech and 
movement. The first thing you notice or 
think of in regard to families or children 
is this link to other generations. Often 
in our Sabbath-school I can recognize 
children by the parents' look, when I 
should not otherwise know them. 

We give our children what we have our- 
selves. The property we leave them is 



1 68 PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 

srriall in importance, compared with the 
properties of soul and body. We read 
that Abraham gave Isaac all that he had. 
The meaning, of course, is all his gold 
and silver and apparel and flocks. But 
there were other things far greater, — the 
reverence, the faith, the purity of char- 
acter. These had their influence, and were 
to Isaac a richer boon than all his wealth. 
Yet here we are reminded that the gifts 
of love are not always good. A man who 
gives money to his children sometimes 

\ ruins them in the gift. He makes them 
self-indulgent, vicious perhaps, and tempts 
them in miserable ways. Thus his gift 
proves a serpent instead of a fish, a scor- 
pion instead of an egg. He thinks to 
make life pleasant to the child, and turns 
it into bitterness. 

There are many such mistakes made in 
life. A great deal might be written on 

I the cruelties of love. There are those who 
bring up their children to be idle, to be 
ashamed of work, to think they must 
always be waited on, and never learn to 
take care of themselves. There are others 
v who awaken the love of finery, and make 



PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 1 69 

their children think always of their dress 
and their appearance. Others still try to 
push them on in their studies, as if to 
get applause was the main object of life. 
These gifts are not bread. They cannot 
feed the soul. By and by, languor and 
disease and morbid vanity take the place 
of all childlike grace. Some parents can- 
not deny a child's wish, but seek to gratify 
it everywhere, giving the child no chance 
of self-denial, no sense of responsibility. 
They even leave to children the decision 
of questions they are not fit to decide. 
Many years ago, I knew T a mother in 
Massachusetts who was asked if her little 
boy went to school. She replied, "Oh, 
no ; I asked Horace if he would go to 
school, but Horace declined." 

In some households the parent is less of 
a master than a slave. The child does not 
run to do errands for the mother, but the ] 
mother for the child ; the boy does not \ 
rise up to wait on others, or to give them 
the best chair, but only looks out for him- 
self. The parent is full of love and anxiety, 
but his gifts fail to bless. There are gifts 
that minister to amusement and self-indul- 



I70 PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 

gence, but not to character ; the heart is 
not made better. This is giving stones for 
bread, and serpents instead of fish. The 
law of the gospel, " Deny thyself," is a 
benign law. It is the law of happiness, 
even of present happiness. A child loves 
to be useful, he loves to do some work, 
he can easily be taught to feel that there 
is more comfort in doing a kind and gen- 
erous act than in anything else. But some 
parents forget this. They shield* their chil- 
dren from everything hard, — hard tasks, 
hard lessons, regular rules. They try to 
make everything easy for them, and thus 
prepare the way for a soft and weak life. 
I was once riding in a railway car with 
Henry Ward Beecher and his son sitting 
in the seat before me. The boy was try- 
ing to get down the blind to keep the sun 
off, but he did not understand the spring. 
The father seemed to pay no attention, 
and by and by I leaned forward to help 
the boy. "No! if you please," said the 
father, "let him find it out for himself; 
that's my rule." The little fellow worked 
away at it, and pretty soon he got it 
down. That boy will be able to take care 



PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 171 

of himself when he grows up. The love I 
and respect a parent receives is for the 
good principles he has taught, and not for 
the favors he has given. 

But some parents make worse mistakes 
than this. They fear to make religion 
unpleasant, and therefore they suffer it to be \ 
neglected. They have no rules for the Sab- 
bath, no laws about going to church, no suit- 
able reading, no cessation of play at home. 
The fear of the Lord is not made present 
in the household, and therefore his love 
cannot be fully known. The parent him- 
self perhaps does not abstain from secular 
employments, he does not talk with the 
child of good things, but rather breaks the 
impression of them by speaking of the 
faults of worship, or talking uncharitably 
of others. The child notices these things, 
and the spirit of the household enters into 
his bosom ere we are aware. The faith of 
childhood is thus early overthrown, and the 
gifts of parental love are anything but salu- 
tary to the soul. The taste for amusements 
is often fostered too strongly. Children are 
allowed at an early age to go to places of 
amusement without the parents. Home is 



172 PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 

not made the happiest and brightest place, 
but money is furnished to save ourselves the 
trouble of employing the children wisely at 
home. These indulgences often turn to 
bitterness. The appetites are stimulated. 
Plain food is despised. The boy who can- 
not say "No!" to his appetite, learns to 
smoke or drink, or worse things, often 
unknown to the parent. The liberties and 
money that are given, without a careful 
account, are no blessing, but a curse. 

Are there not parents who give stones 
for bread, and serpents for fish? The 
child that learns self-indulgence at home, 
and to throw oft' restraint, and the proud 
disregard of right laws, does he not receive 
a fearful inheritance? Are there not parents 
who teach their children to drink, or at 
least lead the way to this and other vices, 
of which the Scripture has warned, us, 
"At the last it biteth like a serpent, and 
stingeth like an adder"? Does not the 
egg sometimes prove a scorpion, and the 
fish turn out a serpent, and the bread 
become a stone? 

Having thus considered the gifts on the 
part of parents, and the mistakes often 



PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 1 73 

made, let us look at the misuse of these 
gifts. The gifts of love are not always 
rightly received. Children have a great 
responsibility, as the Bible itself teaches. 
Commands are addressed to them that 
they may read themselves, " Children, obey 
your parents in the Lord : for this is 
right." * And many solemn warnings are 
given them, " The eye that mocketh at his 
father, and despiseth to obey his mother, 
the ravens of the valley shall pick it 
out, and the young eagles shall eat it." 
The faults of children and parents are very 
apt to go together. No children are fault- 
less, no parents are perfect* But it is a 
fearful thing when estrangement comes 
between them, and love is lost. In the 
meteor-like career of him who is some- 
times called the greatest genius of this 
century, Lord Byron, nothing is sadder 
than his alienation from his mother. 
There was wrong on both sides. He 
gives us a hint of it himself when he 
says : 

"Untaught in youth my heart to tame, 
The springs of life were poisoned. 1 " 

But it is evident that some responsibility 



174 PAR ENT& GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 

must be put upon the child ; we cannot 
shield him wholly from wrong or be 

(always by his side. He must go among 
his companions at school or at play. His 
character must be formed by contact with 
them. He must learn gradually to be his 
j own master. He must learn to resist evil. 
The Germans have a saying, "Who re- 
sists not, exists not." 

Independence and strength of character 
can only be won by trial. I say, then, 
that children have a responsibility for 
themselves and their use of the opportu- 
\ nities allowed them. They are not only 
to be obedient and respectful at home, but 
they are to do right everywhere. They 
are to show kindness and civility to all. 

And one thing I am very glad to say, 
that I think the children of our times are 
for the most part very polite in their man- 
ners and behavior. It has often been said 
that they are not so reverent and respect- 
ful to age as in former times. I do not 
believe it. I am often struck with the 
politeness and good manners of children 
as I meet them in my daily walks. 
Scarcely a boy but lifts his hat with as 



PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 1 75 

much grace and courtesy as a gentleman 
of the old school, and I very rarely, if 
ever, speak to a child without a friendly 
and gracious reply. This is no unimpor- 
tant thing, for good manners are a part of 
godliness. St. Peter does not fail to 
admonish us to be courteous. 

But there are virtues of stouter fiber than 
this; such as truth, promptness, keeping 
your promises. Children must learn these 
by their own effort. Let us impress it 
on the youngest child, whatever you do, 
never be afraid to own it. Do not make 
out a good case for yourself, but tell just 
what you did. The truth is the best thing 
in the universe. It is like pure, white light 
that shows all things as they are. No 
matter what happens, tell the truth. Truth 
will always defend itself. Daniel Webster 
better said: "Truth always fits. Every 
truth in the world is always in harmony 
with every other truth, while falsehoods 
never agree." 

Be prompt, keep your word. If we 
can teach our children anything, let it be 
justice, honor, self-respect. "Oh," but you 
say, " this is not religion." I tell you 



176 PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 

it is religion. When a child feels that 
he must own the truth, and goes and 
says to his mother, "I did so and so that 
was wrong," there begins repentance. I 
thank God for a mother and a father 
who taught me to tell the truth, and if I 
have ever had any piety it began right 
there, that I could not lie down at night 
without confession, and then my mother 
pointed me to Jesus, whose love taketh 
away our sins. And now, again, on this 
matter of responsibility. Every child must 
feel that if he would have a good char- 
acter he has something to do for others, 
and an account to render to God. And 
that is in part the reason why some, very 
carefully brought up, have failed in the 
race of life, and others less favored have 
done well. 

I have known widows left with the .care 
of a young family, in poverty, perhaps, 
as well as loneliness, and I have watched 
and wondered to see how character was 
formed and strength and patience grew 
together. The boy has learned to say: "I 
must take care of mother ; she has no one 
else to look out for her. I must help 



PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 1 77 

mother, and I must not do what will bring 
tears to her sad eyes. Nay, I must wipe 
away those tears and bring smiles by doing 
right. " And so boys and girls would go 
to work and help, and grow strong with 
that beautiful seriousness that you some- 
times see in a child, more beautiful than 
anything on this earth, for it is like that 
divine seriousness that the old painters give 
to the face of the infant Jesus. 

We are to teach children their respon- 
sibility. There is something to do in life, 
a character to be formed. It is not always 
to be taking gifts carelessly, but to use 
them, and, above all, to feel that the best 
gifts are principle, self-denial, and truth. 
Freedom the child must have in some 
degree, but he must be taught to use it. 
Money, pleasure, and gifts in many forms, 
he must have, but the child, too, must see 
to it that he does not turn them into evil. 
When the parent gives bread, the child is 
not to turn it into a stone, nor the fish into 
a serpent, nor the egg into a scorpion. 
The bitterest thing a man can remember in 
old age, is to think, "My parents gave me 
love and indulgence and tried to make me 



178 PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 

happy, but I turned the gifts into evil, 
and departed from virtue and truth, until 
the memory of it bites like a serpent 
and stings like an adder." 

Thus the child is to work with the 
parent, and both have their duties and are 
to be helpers to one another in the great 
work of life. 

This line of thought, like every other 
approach to the subject of home influence, 
teaches us the importance of early impres- 
sions. Children learn very rapidly. They 
get a great part of education before they 
go to school. Their memories are stored 
with things they hear, and their words 
and gestures are copied from those about 
them. Are you waiting, parent, in the 
hope that by and by character will burst 
out all of a sudden, that the faults of 
childhood can be brushed away at a stroke, 
and no stain of them be left? Never 
was a greater mistake. We are bidden to 
train our children for the kingdom of 
heaven, not to wait and expect heaven to 
open as it did on Paul, and turn a cruel 
man into a saint. God often has mercy on 
bad men whose parents have led them into 



PARENTS' GIF r TS TO THEIR CHILDREN 1 79 

error. But our business is, if possible, to 
keep our children from error. And we 
may do it, by God's help. We see what 
training can do, when we look at a child 
well brought up, taught, grounded in good 
principles, and led onward in the way of 
right ; and then look at the poor inmates 
of our reform school, boys and girls often 
with good minds and fair faces and strong 
limbs ; but they have been neglected at 
home. Nine out of ten of them come 
from drunken, swearing parents, or from 
those who have given them only the edu- 
cation of the street. But even these may 
be reclaimed by judicious care. 

The best training you can give a brute 
leaves him but a brute still. The scor- 
pion is a scorpion and the serpent a ser- 
pent. But the child made in God's image 
can be trained by his help to goodness, 
faith, and love. All the energies of our 
hearts and minds should be devoted to this 
sacred office. 

There is a wonderful receptivity in the 
child. I do not believe that children are 
born holy and good, nor do I believe 
that they keep entire innocence very long, 



l8o PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 

but this I do believe, that they are early 
receptive to God's grace. It may touch 
their hearts from infancy. It is an old 
fancy that when a baby smiles in sleep, 
the angels are whispering to him, but it 
is no fancy that God may send the Holy 
Spirit in ways that we know not ; and if 
we believe this how tenderly should we 
desire to work with God and to breathe 
an honest and pure influence about the 
child at all times ! We know that the 
foundations of health or disease are laid 
in infancy. Why not of character? If we 
are prayerful and devout, the child will 
catch the spirit. 

A father told me the other day how 
his little boys would gather around him at 
the family altar, and even the tottering 
baby of two years old would drop down 
on his knees, not willing to be outdone 
by the rest. May God multiply such 
homes, where fear of God and love of 
truth and righteousness are taught, where 
self-help is always joined with the love of 
helping others, where to fear God and 
keep his commandments is the law of daily 
life ! Here is a hymn from the land of 



PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN l8l 

Luther which I was reading this morning, 
and I know the children will love it, 
because they love poetry : 

" O happy home, where thou art loved the best, 
Dear Friend and Saviour of our race, 
Where never comes such welcome, honored Guest, 
Where none can ever fill thy place ! 

*< O happy home, where man and wife in heart, 
In faith and hope are one, 
That neither life nor death can ever part, 
The holy union here begun ! 

"O happy home, whose little ones are given 
Early to thee in faith and prayer, 
To thee, their friend, who from the heights of heaven 
Guards them with constant care ! 

*'0 happy home, where little voices, 
Their glad hosannas love to raise, 
And childhood's lisping tongue rejoices 
To bring new songs of love and praise, 

," Where each one serves the meek and lowly 
Whatever thine appointment be, 
Till common tasks seem great and holy 
When they are done as unto thee ! " 

God bless you, parents and children, 
brothers and sisters, and all who have 
care or prayer for little ones. God bless 



1-82 PARENTS' GIFTS TO THEIR CHILDREN 

you all, and grant that you may so serve 
him with such an honest, simple life, and 
such desire to do good that all about you 
may catch the spirit, and that we may all 
come together unto the home above, say- 
ing, " Here am I and the children whom 
thou hast given me." 



